Rowan Holzberger (Forde, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Yes, so there you go. This is a policy which would have had the twin negative of raiding people's retirement balance, which is what superannuation is for, and not letting them pay themselves first and at the same time pushing up house prices in the community. Somehow this policy—which the shadow Treasurer just enthusiastically said yes to, which is a bit of a sign that it might be the policy they take to the next election—would have somehow had two, twin, disastrous outcomes.

This bill really builds on the long history of superannuation. Let's just remember that superannuation is not something which has been gifted to workers. Superannuation, when it was introduced in the nineties was exactly their money—as the shadow Treasurer has just said it, It was exactly their money. It was a tax cut which they forgave back nineties. It was a wage rise which they forgave. It is exactly their money. The shadow Treasurer is shaking his head again. I seek first to understand and then to be understood! But I was there, I was watching it at the time. I know that it was a tax cut which they gave up and put into super, and it was a pay rise, as part of the accord, which they gave up. So it is indeed workers' money. From the very inception there, when it was their money, to the increase of 12 per cent, which the opposition fought against, and to allowing it to be used for things like housing, this bill builds on all of that.

One of the most important things in this bill is what the LISTO does. Here we have an attempt to right that imbalance between the income tax that a worker would pay and what the tax rate is on that superannuation. In Forde, for instance, something like 11,353 people are going to benefit from the LISTO to the tune of something like $4.6 million. That's because the LISTO is about helping lower-income earners, somewhere around 60 per cent of whom, in Forde, are women. It is about lifting up the super balances of lower-income earners, particularly women.

Superannuation is one of those things that, if you look historically at gender pay gap, was only really in the last few years held by women. It rose from below 40 per cent, and it is now it is now into the 40s, but it is still not equal. Measures like the LISTO will go towards fixing that imbalance. In Forde, it is particularly important because in working-class areas like Forde people really have been doing it tough. In fact, for the bottom five postcodes within Forde, the super balance is somewhere around $68,000. The top super balance in Forde is $183,000. When you compare that to a national average of 160 grand, the bottom of five are $66,000, $78,000, $88,000, $92,000 and $95,000. There is a problem that needs to be fixed up, and fixing the LISTO will go some of the way to fixing this problem.

Thank you for the opportunity to talk about super, something which is very important to the Labor plan and to the Labor cause of helping people economically. I urge you to support this bill.

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