Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to thank members on both sides of the House who have contributed to the debate on the Governance of Australian Government Superannuation Schemes Legislation Amendment Bill 2015.

I listened carefully to the member for Perth and, whilst I do not always agree with her on some of the sentiments she expresses in this parliament, I do wholeheartedly agree with her inasmuch as we do need to encourage Australian superannuation funds to invest more readily and more heavily into Australian-owned enterprises, certainly in, as she referred to, mining and construction, and I would also add in agriculture. As far as agriculture is concerned, there is good money to be made in the long term and I commend her for her comments in that respect. The bill merges ComSuper, the administrator of the Australian government's civilian and military defined benefit superannuation schemes, with the Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation, CSC, the trustee of the Australian government schemes.

The merger was announced in the 2014-15 budget in the context of our smaller government agenda. This agenda aims to reduce the total number of government entities by eliminating duplication and overlap and by simplifying inefficient and complex agency structures. The smaller government agenda has resulted in the number of government bodies being reduced by 286 so far, and achieved savings of $1.4 billion to repair the budget and fund other priorities. That is extremely important. But, fundamentally, this agenda is about ensuring that the Australian government is structured and operates in a way that delivers efficient services, robust advice and value for money for taxpayers.

Before addressing some of the points raised in the debate, I want to briefly go over some of the ways in which the bill will give effect to the merger of ComSuper with CSC. The general principle for the merger, which is reflected in the bill, is that the functions that ComSuper currently perform will be performed by CSC from commencement of the merger. Bringing the management of the Australian government schemes under a single body will improve the efficiency of this function by removing duplication and overlap. The merger will also give CSC control over the provision of administration services, in line with its regulatory responsibilities as trustee of the Australian government superannuation schemes. Importantly, the bill does not change the design of benefits provided by the Australian government schemes, or affect the delivery of services, including payment of benefits, to members of the schemes. The administration services to be provided by CSC include the collection of member contributions and payment of lump sum and fortnightly benefit payments.

As a result of its new administration services role, CSC will also perform several functions for and on behalf of the Commonwealth. This includes, for example, the payment of superannuation benefits from Commonwealth appropriations. The bill transfers the assets and most of the liabilities of ComSuper to CSC. The staff of ComSuper will be separately transferred from Australian Public Service employment to CSC employment by way of a determination of the Australian Public Service Commissioner under the Public Service Act 1999. The bill includes a range of transitional provisions to cater for the transfer of ComSuper staff to CSC employment. Under these provisions, ComSuper staff will continue to be covered by the ComSuper enterprise agreement on transfer to CSC. This will assist in ensuring that their remuneration and conditions of employment are no less favourable than those that applied to them immediately before the merger. ComSuper staff will also maintain their accrued entitlements to benefits on transfer to CSC.

The bill also makes consequential amendments to several acts of parliament governing the civilian and military superannuation schemes. Additionally, the bill amends the Superannuation Act 2005 to bring the arrangements for Public Sector Superannuation Accumulation Plan—PSSap—members into line with the arrangements for members of private sector accumulation superannuation funds. Under the new arrangements, the costs of administering PSSap will be deducted from member accounts. These PSSap administration fees will be determined by CSC, and I note that the CSC has already published indicative fees for the PSSap on its website, including a monthly administration fee of $5, which, of course, is subject to the passage of this legislation.

Overall, the bill delivers on the government's commitment to streamline the management of Australian government superannuation by merging ComSuper with CSC. The merger provides for continuity of administration services in relation to the Australian government's civilian and military defined benefit schemes while removing duplication and overlap in existing structures.

I note that the opposition has indicated it will be moving amendments to the bill when it reaches the Senate, and I thank the member for Oxley for his contribution to this debate. While I hope to have plenty of opportunities to robustly debate him in this chamber between now and the next election—and I am sure that will happen—I would like to take this opportunity to put on the record my respect for his contribution to parliament with regard to this particular bill. In the context of the amendments Labor intends to move in the Senate, I would note that the merger of ComSuper and CSC is quite a unique exercise. ComSuper employees are moving out of the Australian Public Service but will remain employed by an agency within the general government sector.

It is pertinent that from 1 July 2015 new controls will afford agency heads the flexibility to manage recruitment, including the consideration of candidates not already employed within the Australian Public Service, without the need for external approval. The new controls relax restrictions that we put in place from November 2013 to help reduce the size of the Australian Public Service in an orderly way. In around 18 months, the government has reversed an eight-year peak in staffing levels, bringing the Commonwealth public sector back to a more affordable and sustainable size. As the member for Parkes pointed out in his contribution, over the period from 1 September 2013 to 28 February 2015 more than 17,300 public servants left the APS, with around half of that number achieved through natural attrition. Also, the overwhelming majority of redundancies across the APS were voluntary.

The member for Page made some very pertinent points, too, in his contribution, particularly in relation to military superannuation schemes. In response to the comments from those opposite about the superannuation guarantee, I would remind them that if they had not worked so hard to frustrate the government's clear mandate on the repeal of the mining tax, those changes may not have been necessary. Once again, I thank all members for their contribution, and with that I commend the bill to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Message from the Governor-General recommending appropriation announced.

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