Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Superannuation is not just a financial mechanism; it is a promise when an Australian starts work that, after a lifetime of work, they can retire with some security and peace of mind. That is the goal of superannuation, and at its best, superannuation reflects the values of fairness, responsibility and opportunity. It's important to strengthen that system to make sure that it works for everyone—not only for a section of the community but for everyone. It's one of the most important challenges that we face, and one of the most important pieces of legislation that was brought in by the Hawke-Keating government. Over the past few years, meaningful steps have been taken by this government to strengthen it, to ensure that it's fair and to ensure that superannuation delivers on that foundational purpose of providing income for Australians in retirement, not just for the fortunate few that perhaps many years ago could afford superannuation or had the privileges of superannuation.

I have been listening to those opposite. Just recently the member for McPherson spoke about an ideology that we have. Yes, we certainly do have an ideology. We believe that working people should be able to retire in dignity, and that's what superannuation was all about. It was about putting in place a mechanism for people who previously could not put money aside for whatever reason. Maybe they were low-income workers. Maybe there was a whole range of reasons. Superannuation, through the superannuation guarantee levy, ensures that money is put aside from the beginning of your working life right through to the end of your working life, ensuring that there's a sum there to help you retire with.

That's what it was about, and if that's about ideology then, yes, I'll cop that: it is about ideology. It's about giving working people a better retirement than they had before superannuation came in.

In every way, this superannuation journey, from the late eighties, when the Hawke-Keating government brought it in, has been constantly opposed by the opposition. No matter what we on this side of the House do to strengthen superannuation, to make it better and to make it fairer, it has been opposed continuously from the other side, and I don't understand why, because superannuation is no different than receiving your wage. Superannuation—the 12 per cent or whatever it is that the employer agrees to pay the employee—is about money in return for work done. It's not a gift. It's not a promise. It's not something that's done just out of their goodwill. It is for the work that's been done by that worker. It's not something that we should take for granted and should not have laws in place for to strengthen it and ensure that everyone gets that superannuation. As I said, it's not an abstract. This is money that's paid later in life and provides security later on in life.

The introduction, for example, of clearer reporting frameworks and best-practice principles gives Australians the information, guidance and product choices they need to retire with. They need that information so they can retire in confidence. They know what they're putting in place. Transparency drives better outcomes. It challenges the trustees to innovate in the interests of members, not margins.

A fair superannuation system must do more than grow balances; it must close those gaps. The gender superannuation gap remains one of the most persistent and unfair inequities in our economy, and that is why paying superannuation on government funded paid parental leave matters so deeply. Since last July, parents who are welcoming children into the world through birth or adoption have had super paid on that leave, and around 180,000 parents each year benefit from this change. Because around 95 per cent of paid parental leave is received by women, this reform goes directly to where the need is greatest. It also recognises that caring should never come at the cost of security and that fairness cannot stop there. Low-income workers deserve superannuation tax concessions that actually benefit them. Therefore, the reforms that have been brought in by this government are very important, and they secure superannuation for the future— (Time expired)

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