Daniel Mulino (Fraser, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Those opposite, Deputy Speaker, don't like the truth, so they howl. It's actually confirming all of my suspicions about those opposite—that they can't deal with arguments, so they try hollow volume.

Let's think about the strategy and the arguments of those opposite. At every turn, over this term of parliament, where possible, they have tried to weaken the superannuation system. If we have a business downturn, they turn to early release so that people have to self-insure rather than the government doing what it's supposed to and protecting the vulnerable. When they've got a shocking lack of a housing policy, those opposite turn to superannuation and fundamentally seek to undermine our retirement system.

Let's see what's so superficial and dangerous about this mirage of a policy. It's superficially attractive, but the more you look at it, the more you realise there's absolutely nothing to it but the hollow rhetoric we just heard. What we see is somebody trying to set up a completely false dichotomy. The government is saying: 'You can have either housing or a good retirement.' It's a shocking way to frame this for today's young people—a shocking way to frame it.

Those opposite won't tell young people that, if they access their superannuation for retirement early, the opportunity cost is massive. Investment expert after investment expert will tell us that time is your greatest ally when investing, and that is exactly why it is critical that people invest early in their careers and sit on those investments. It is absolutely critical that young people today invest for their retirement with the advice of Warren Buffett, not the self-promoting backbenchers opposite. There are the massive opportunity costs that our young people would be exposed to if they withdrew money for housing, when they should have alternative supply-side policies. They should have both, but, if they withdraw thousands from their early retirement savings, they will be giving up six, eight or 10 times that in their retirement.

The other thing we should bear in mind is that those opposite claim that they are helping the young people who are struggling to buy housing, but the people in the 25-to-34 age bracket will have average savings of $8,000 to 28,000. As we saw in the latest economic downturn, those opposite want people to clear out their super accounts so that, by the time they get to 35, they will have zero. Those opposite will yell and howl and they will publish their little pamphlets with half-arguments, but what they don't like to acknowledge is that what they're really asking of our young people is to pull out their super, drive up housing and have nothing in their accounts at 35. That is exactly what they are saying. Those opposite, who claim to be economic managers, give us yet another lazy demand-side solution to the housing problems.

Sally Loane, CEO of FSC, said early release for housing would be 'counterproductive and further inflate house prices'. Michael Sukkar, the current Minister for Housing, said in 2014 that he agrees that tapping super for property would only drive up house prices because it would pump more liquidity into the market. I'd love to hear what those opposite would say when the current Minister for Housing says, 'I want more supply-side measures,' which is exactly what all serious commentators on the housing market say. Those opposite adopt the lazy strategy of saying to our young people today that it's either housing or their retirement, which is a completely false choice. Finally, it is absolutely critical that we acknowledge that the Retirement income review, just released, did not recommend early release from superannuation in order to buy housing. There is nothing that they can point to in that report. Those opposite want to fundamentally undermine the superannuation system—a world-leading system that the World Bank and OECD point to, saying other counties should follow. It's a completely lazy, superficial choice they're offering our young people.

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