Chris Bowen (Prospect, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the amendments be agreed to.

The amendments proposed by the other house are, in the government’s view, sensible, unlike the amendments which it was flagged the opposition would support, which would have led us to a different situation. In the other house, Senator Xenophon moved an amendment and Senator Coonan indicated that the Liberal and National parties would be supporting amendments. Those amendments would have gutted this legislation. Those amendments potentially would have put an $860 million hole in the budget surplus. That was the situation we had—that the Liberal and National parties were talking about the need for a budget surplus at the same time that they were undermining that budget surplus. The amendments that were proposed and that the Liberal and National parties were proposing to support were fundamentally flawed. We pointed that out; we pointed it out in this House and in the other house. When that was pointed out, I am very glad to say that the Minister for Superannuation and Corporate Governance received a telephone call from Senator Coonan advising that the Liberal and National parties would not be supporting the amendments any further and that the legislation would be passed effec-tively intact. So we are very glad that the other side saw reason and reversed their position—as we are very glad that on a couple of matters this week the opposition have seen reason and reversed their position.

The amendments proposed by the other house are largely technical and are supported by the government. They ensure that the legislation is passed in the form that the government intended. Of course we have always given credit where this is due. This has been a matter that both sides of the parliament have been seeking to progress for some time. It is appropriate that this legislation pass because superannuation is very important to the Australian economy, but it is also very important to the individuals involved. I commend the bill to the House.

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