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

Firstly, I want to thank the members who've contributed to this debate about the future of our superannuation system. In particular, I want to thank the Assistant Treasurer, who's here with us today, and other members of the government's economic team. I want to thank colleagues from across the parliament, but particularly colleagues in the Albanese government, for making the case here. I also want to thank people from right across the superannuation industry and the wider community who have supported, contributed to and fed back on these important reforms over a number of years now.

These bills—the Treasury Laws Amendment (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Bill 2026 and the Superannuation (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Imposition Bill 2026—reform our superannuation system to make it fairer from top to bottom. They are all about helping workers earn more, keep more of what they earn and retire with more as well, while also strengthening Australia's world-class superannuation system. They do this by boosting tax concessions for low-income workers. From July next year, the maximum LISTO payment will increase by $310 to $810 and the eligibility threshold will increase from 37,000 to $45,000. This will ensure low-income workers receive a fairer tax concession on their super contributions to align with the government's third round of tax cuts, taking effect in 2027.

More than a million low-income workers will benefit from these reforms, including around 750,000 women and around 550,000 young people under the age of 30. At the same time, these bills reduce the tax concessions available to individuals with total super balances above $3 million. This will mean the concessional tax rate applying to future earnings on balances between $3 million and $10 million will be a combined headline rate of 30 per cent, and the concessional tax rate applying to future earnings on balances above $10 million will be 40 per cent. It means that there is still concessional tax treatment in superannuation but in a more sustainable way for people with the biggest balances.

Both the $3 million and the $10 million thresholds will be indexed. Reducing the tax concessions for those with large balances will make the system more sustainable, raising a bit over $2 billion in the first full year. This measure will affect less than half a per cent of all Australians. Together, these two changes will maintain concessional tax treatment, as I said, for super across the board. They will make the system more sustainable by better targeting those concessions for the biggest balances to help fund more super for people with the smallest balances.

The Australian Labor Party built our superannuation system, and we're really proud of that fact. As a government, we take seriously our responsibility as custodians of this system. We're focused on making the system stronger, fairer and more sustainable. That's why we legislated the objective of super. It's why we've raised the super guarantee to 12 per cent. It's why we've legislated payday super and why we're paying super on government paid parental leave. And it's why we've strengthened financial reporting requirements, expanded the performance test, announced mandatory service standards and set out best practice principles for retirement products. I want to acknowledge the work of Minister Mulino and, before him, Minister Jones.

There are always those who look to stand against important reforms like these, and there are some who have tried to argue against this policy over the years. They've looked for any reason to protect the tax breaks for those with tens of millions of dollars in super. The government have listened to stakeholders and made practical changes to the model in response to feedback over a long period of time, and we've strengthened and broadened these reforms to support low-income workers as well. But we've always maintained the objective of this policy: making the super system stronger and fairer.

Unfortunately, the coalition seems determined to vote against a stronger and fairer super system. They're determined to vote against more super for Australians on the lowest incomes, if you can believe it. They're determined to vote to keep bigger tax breaks for those who already have tens of millions of dollars in their super accounts. It's disappointing, but it's not especially surprising. We know that they have always opposed compulsory superannuation and they have always sought to undermine it. Their new shadow treasurer is on the record calling for compulsory superannuation to be dismantled. But it's not too late for the coalition to do the right thing for Australians and for the superannuation system that helps fund their retirements. We call on the whole parliament to pass these reforms to back that stronger and fairer super system.

Our superannuation system is the envy of the world. It began with workers and unions organising to support a better standard of living in retirement. It became a universal system in 1992, under the Keating government, with work done under the Hawke government as well by Treasurer Keating. The passage of this bill through the parliament will be a really important next step in the evolution of our superannuation system—a step towards a stronger system, a step towards a fairer system and a step towards a more secure retirement for millions of working Australians today and into the future. That's why I commend this bill to the House.

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