Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I was beginning to wonder where the shadow Treasurer had got to, so I welcome his question today about these changes. His question has a number of important elements. First of all, I want to remind the House that when it comes to the changes that we are proposing to superannuation, this side of the House is cutting taxes for 100 per cent of the 14 million Australian workers in the income tax system, while that side of the House wants to go to the wall for half a per cent of people who already have more than $3 million in superannuation, so there is a difference here between this side of the House and that side of the House.

They wanted to jack up taxes on every single Australian taxpaying worker, but they will go to the wall for half a per cent of people, some of whom have hundreds of millions of dollars already in superannuation. What that tells us is that they haven't listened, they haven't learned and they haven't changed. They weren't listening to what the Australian people told them on 3 May.

When it comes to Paul Keating—first of all, as the Minister for Climate Change and Energy reminds us, you should hear what Paul Keating thinks about you lot. That's the first point. The second point is that I think it's a matter of public record that I value my relationship with Paul Keating. He's someone I've known for a long time and he's someone that I continue to admire. It's possible to admire Paul Keating and to respect Paul Keating and to occasionally have a different view to Paul Keating. That's what's happened on this occasion. I've said that publicly on a number of occasions. I mean no disrespect to Paul when I say it. We speak about this matter from time to time. We speak about a whole range of matters from time to time, and I value the engagement.

The reason this is so important, and the reason this rare question from the shadow Treasurer is so unfortunate, is Paul put out a statement talking about the balance that people have in their superannuation—because he was rightly celebrating the fact that this side of the House is delivering a 12 per cent superannuation guarantee. The reason that's so important is, at every single turn, those opposite have tried to diminish and undermine superannuation. Superannuation is one of the great public policy triumphs of this country, and we are very proud of it. It took three Labor governments to get superannuation from nine to 12 per cent—Paul Keating's government obviously played a decisive role. I pay tribute to former Treasurer Swan and former assistant Treasurer Bowen for legislating the increase in the superannuation guarantee. This government oversaw the 12 per cent superannuation guarantee, and that was what Paul was talking about when he put that statement out. I won't be taking lectures on superannuation from those opposite. They hated superannuation from John Howard on. We believe in superannuation, and that includes making sure that the concessions are sustainable. (Time expired)

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