Sarah Witty (Melbourne, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Superannuation is not a privilege; it's a promise. It is the promise that if you spend a lifetime working, contributing, caring and building this country you will not be faced with insecurity at the end of it. That promise was not accidental. It was built. It was built by the union movement, built by working people who knew that dignity in retirement should not be reserved for the fortunate few, built by Labor governments who were prepared to back working Australians with a system that endures. 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 not only defend that promise; they strengthen it. Super has a purpose. It is not ambiguous. It is not optional. It is not whatever the market decides it is. The objective is to preserve savings to deliver income for a dignified retirement, alongside government support, in an equitable and sustainable way. That purpose matters, because systems only endure when they stay true to why they were created. If super is used to build up excess wealth instead of being used to provide income in retirement, confidence erodes, and, when confidence erodes, working Australians pay the price.

This bill restores that confidence. It does that in two clear ways. First, it better targets tax concessions for those with very large balances. Second, it strengthens support for low income workers so that super works for the people it was meant to serve. Super tax concessions are deliberate policy choice. They exist to encourage people to save for retirement. They exist so that ordinary working people can build for their retirement over time. But those concessions must be sustainable, they must be justified, and they must be targeted fairly. Right now, too large a share of earning concessions flows to those at the very top end of the system. This bill adjusts the concession tax treatment for super earnings on amounts above a very high limit.

From the 2026-27 income year, earnings on super balances below $3 million will not change. Earnings on balances between $3 million and $10 million will be taxed at up to 30 per cent. Earnings on balances above $10 million will be taxed at up to 40 per cent. I want to say this clearly because it matters. If you have less than $3 million in super, this change does not apply to you. If you have less than $3 million in super, nothing changes—not the rate you pay on earnings, not the treatment of your contributions and not the structure of super for you or your family. This reform is targeted at the very top end of the system, and it is modest. It affects less than half of one per cent of Australians with super accounts. That is what we are debating.

It is easy in this place for debates to become abstract. It is easy for the loudest voices to turn a targeted adjustment into a cultural war. This is a question of purpose. This is a question of legitimacy, because, if a system built for working people becomes skewed towards the already secure, it loses public confidence, and super must never lose public confidence. Super was designed for dignity. It was designed so that a person who works hard, who pays rent and bills and who shows up year after year can retire without fear. It was designed so that ordinary working Australians can build security over time—week by week, pay by pay, year by year. That is the moral foundation of super, and this bill protects that foundation.

The second part of this bill matters just as much, and in many ways it matters more for the community I represent. This bill strengthens support for low-income workers through the low-income super tax offset, LISTO, and it exists for a reason. It exists because low-income workers can end up paying more tax on their super contributions than they pay on their wages. That is not fair, and for too long the threshold settings have not kept pace with broader tax and super settings. From 1 July 2027, the entitlement threshold will rise to $45,000. This aligns with the top of the second income tax bracket. The maximum payment will increase to reflect increases in the super guarantee. This means more people will receive support, it means more low-income workers will keep more of what they have earned, and it means retirement savings will stay in the accounts of the people doing the work. That is what equity looks like in a tax system.

I am honoured to represent the electorate of Melbourne. It is a city of shift workers, students who work while they study, casual and part-time workers, carers, nurses, researchers, teachers, hospitality staff, retail workers and early childhood educators. It is a city built on contribution. When I am in the community I hear it constantly. I hear it from women in their 40s and their 50s who have worked for decades and still feel insecure about retirement.

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