Helen Haines (Indi, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I wish to make a short statement about the detailed amendments from the member for Warringah. Last night I set out my criticisms of schedule 3 of this bill. While I'm pleased to see the government capitulate on the absurd directions power that section 117A would have given to the Treasurer, there are still serious deficiencies in schedule 3. The Hayne royal commission explicitly opposed a revision of the best interests covenant. The Superannuation Committee of the Law Council of Australia have also done the same, and they've done so for good reason, because there's no clear rationale for the wholesale revision of the best interests test. Schedule 3, as amended, would wipe out years of jurisprudence overnight and create needless uncertainty, and the last thing our super savings need is needless uncertainty.

Limiting the best interests test to pure financial interests misunderstands people's relationship with their super. There are good reasons to use a stick to focus the minds of superannuation trustees to ensure that they're acting in their members' best interests, especially when it comes to political advertising or lobbying. But, if you have to use a sharp stick, do that, not a blunt rock like this. If the government wanted a sharp stick, it could have refined the existing covenants set out in section 52 of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act. That would have allowed the government to weed out excessive spend on political advertising and lobbying without punishing ethical investments that are good for bank accounts and for our environment. If that's not what the government is intending then it should say so right now explicitly in this bill, not in regulations.

There are also many other parts of this bill outside of schedule 3 that could be improved with good amendments, including the sequencing issue, stapling in high-risk industries and the selective performance testing of some funds but not others. I'm committed to working with my crossbench colleagues in the Senate to continue to improve this bill, and I'll reserve my final judgement when it comes back to this House, amended, for final consideration.

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