Gary Nairn (Eden-Monaro, Liberal Party, Special Minister of State) Share this | Hansard source

in reply—In summing up this debate, I thank the various members who contributed to it. The Parliamentary Superannuation Amendment Bill 2006 will amend the Parliamentary Superannuation Act 2004 to increase the rate of superannuation contribution for members of parliament elected in the 2004 general election and subsequently, from nine per cent to 15.4 per cent. It will give effect to the Prime Minister’s announcement of 7 September 2006 that the government would introduce legislation to adjust the level of superannuation for parliamentarians elected at the 2004 election and subsequently so that it is the same as that paid to Commonwealth public servants. If a member of the federal parliament is not the equivalent of a Commonwealth public servant, I do not know who is.

Increasing the contribution rate as proposed in this bill will align the rate of contribution for these members of parliament with the rate for the Public Sector Superannuation Accumulation Plan. That scheme provides superannuation benefits for Commonwealth public servants and for staff of members of parliament. It is simply bringing those members of parliament elected after 2004 in line with Commonwealth public servants and staff of members of parliament. That is pretty fair I think.

The point apparently has been made during this debate on the bill that it will provide more generous superannuation than is available generally. This is referring to the superannuation guarantee, which is a minimum mandated contribution for Australian workers. This bill will align the contribution rate for parliamentarians elected at the 2004 election and subsequently with that available to many Commonwealth public servants and to the staff of members of parliament, as I have said. It is aligning it with what is effectively the industry standard for the equivalent.

The Prime Minister has emphasised the importance of attracting a cross-section of talented candidates to the parliament. As he has observed, you can do that only if the remuneration they would receive has some relationship to the remuneration they could earn if they did not enter politics. The possible voluntary transfer to the revised accumulation arrangements has also been raised. Allowing existing members of the PCSS to transfer to the revised accumulation arrangements would raise a number of significant issues. If longer serving MPs who have already qualified for the maximum benefit or who are approaching the maximum benefit are allowed to transfer to the revised accumulation arrangements, they could accrue more superannuation than they would under the existing arrangements. This could be seen as double-dipping, because MPs in this situation would receive extra superannuation at a cost to the taxpayer, and they would not have to pay the member contributions that membership of the PCSS would require. For MPs who have not qualified for a pension but who may have qualified if they had remained in the PCSS, allowing them to transfer may result in an undervaluing of their accrued benefits when they transfer. This could be seen as a retrospective change to their existing entitlements, and the Prime Minister made it very clear in 2004 that the new accumulation arrangements would not be retrospective, as is the case for all superannuation legislation irrespective of who it might affect. That has always been the case, and there is absolutely no reason to change it.

This is a simple bill. It is simply changing the contribution from nine per cent to 15.4 per cent to bring it into line with other Commonwealth public servants and the staff of members of parliament. I commend the bill to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Message from the Governor-General recommending appropriation announced.

See this speech in context