Matt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Immigration) Share this | Hansard source

Superannuation was introduced by Labor to provide workers with dignity in retirement. It was a way of saying 'thank you' to workers for their decades of contribution to the workforce, to the companies and the organisations that they work for, and it was an opportunity to provide them with a comfortable retirement, a holiday every now and then, enough to look after the grandkids and to ensure that they had dignity in their senior years.

The system has grown into one of the largest pools of investment funds anywhere in the world, providing support for economic growth in our economy and ensuring that we have jobs for Australians into the future. But we need to make sure that our superannuation laws keep pace with changes in our economy and continue to provide that principle dignity for Australian workers in their retirement, and this bill introduces a number of reforms to superannuation and tax laws to achieve just that. The bill seeks to deliver on an election commitments to streamline systems and processes and to reduce compliance costs for taxpayers. We're ensuring that more Australians earn more, keep more of what they earn and retire with more as well, and that's another step in strengthening a system that delivers on its purpose of providing income for a dignified retirement.

Australians deserve to make an informed choice about their superannuation when starting a new job, so schedule 1 bill of this or one of this bill streamlines the choice of fund process so that workers can see and can consider their existing stapled fund. Stapling was introduced to ensure that employers pay superannuation contributions to an employee's existing superannuation fund if they don't make a choice. That helps reduce the duplication of accounts that eventually erode retirement savings through unnecessary fees and insurance premiums. Earlier access to stapled fund details means that employees can make that choice with confidence, and employers have the right information to support the government's payday super reforms.

Schedule 2 introduces a targeted ban on superannuation advertising during onboarding. This amendment introduces a ban on advertising superannuation products to an employee specifically at the point that the employee is onboarding when they start a new job. This is a key moment for employees, and they should be able to engage with their super in a safe and informed way, free from inappropriate pressures or product promotion. Australians deserve protection from inappropriate advertising when they provide their superannuation details to an employer during onboarding. Limited exceptions ensure workers can still see their stapled fund, the employer's default fund or a regulated MySuper product, keeping the focus on transparency, not sales tactics.

These reforms build on the government's broader work to strengthen superannuation: legislating the purpose of super; lifting the superannuation guarantee to 12 per cent—again ensuring that we provide that dignity for workers in retirement as the cost-of-living increases; boosting the low-income superannuation tax offset; and paying super on paid parental leave. All measures ensure providing equality for women in the workforce and providing dignity for seniors in retirement.

We've implemented major reforms to ensure funds deliver for their members, from the financial accountability regime to stronger reporting standards, to expanding the performance test from around 80 products to more than 800. We are proud of Australia's superannuation system, proud of the workers that it supports and proud of the government that is ensuring it continues to deliver for generations of workers to come.

Schedule 3 of this bill provides targeted tax exemptions to help Australia host the men's and women's rugby world cups in 2027 and 2029. This ensures that we remain competitive and trusted to host major international sporting events. Similar exemptions were provided for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup and the 2020 ICC T20 world cup. This measure follows a well-established approach in supporting international sporting events in Australia and will, importantly, form part of our strategy around those sporting events in the lead-up to the pinnacle—the Olympics and Paralympic Games in Brisbane in 2032.

Schedule 4 of the bill amends the International Tax Agreements Act to give force to a law for the convention between Australia and Portugal, which was signed on 30 November 2023. The convention is the first of its kind between Australia and Portugal, and will provide avenues to support closer bilateral linkages with Portugal, particularly in the areas of commercial trade investment and innovation. It will do so by reducing withholding tax on dividends, interest and royalties, which will reduce tax disincentives to investment and the cost of business for accessing foreign capital. The convention will also reduce compliance costs for taxpayers and improve certainty for individual businesses that have dealings in Australia and in Portugal by determining allocation of profits from cross-border dealings between the two countries. Finally, the convention supports Australia's plan to make multinationals pay their fair share of tax and strengthens the integrity of our taxation system.

Schedule 6 delivers on the government's commitment to provide tax relief for Australia's wine producers. The support for wine producers comes under the existing wine equalisation tax producer rebate scheme from 1 July 2026 by increasing the rebate cap of $350,000 to $400,000 per financial year. Schedule 6 will support approximately 3,000 wine producers. These changes back local producers, keeping money flowing through regional towns and supporting investment and jobs.

These are commitments that Labor made in the lead-up to the last election. Again, it's proof that the Albanese government is delivering on its economic commitments and ensuring that Australian workers continue to be provided with dignity and equality in the workforce, particularly in retirement.

See this speech in context