Roger Price (Chifley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to raise what I think is a serious issue in regard to superannuation. It involves a scam. I think all members of parliament admire those people who work very hard and honestly to earn a living. This particular scam involves train drivers and guards in New South Wales. A Mr Gus Marques, also known as Gus Hassan, has been approaching guards and train drivers, saying that he is able to access their superannuation from First State Super.

A number of constituents have raised this matter with me. What he does is to approach First State Super, get the superannuation funds, charge a fee of five per cent and then assure those people on whose behalf he has acted that he will pay the 15 per cent tax involved in collecting that super. Of course, he does not do that. Two hundred people have been caught out in this way; yet, as I understand it today, Mr Marques is still living a life of luxury in Queensland.

One particular constituent who approached me—and I have had a number approach me—I am going to call Michael Mendoza. That is not his real name. He applied for his superannuation because his wife was suffering from cancer. In fact, he received the superannuation in November 2004 and tragically she passed away in July 2005. Here is the rub: he has a debt to the Australian Taxation Office of $25,706.80 because he believed that Mr Gus Marques was paying the taxation component to the tax office.

I say to the taxation commissioner that I do not understand how an individual can act on behalf of 200 superannuants and claim their superannuation. What standing did he have that allowed him to do this? Clearly he is not a registered agent or a tax accountant. Under our superannuation laws, is this a door that is wide open? Why is the Taxation Office failing to track down, to hunt down, this evil man, Mr Gus Marques? He is a crook, and when people legitimately believe they had paid that money he should be in the gun, not them. (Time expired)