Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Government Services and the Digital Economy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Precisely two weeks ago the Treasurer gave a speech, saying that he wanted to start a conversation about superannuation. What was that code for? It soon became clear that it was code for three things that the Treasurer wants to do. The first was that he wants superannuation funds to invest in ill defined, nation-building projects. This is a bad idea. It will put at risk the returns Australians receive and, in turn, the amount they receive to support them in retirement.

The second thing was that he wants to legislate an objective for superannuation. Indeed, he shared the wording of that objective in that speech. It all sounds very high-minded, but there is a simple political reality behind what Labor is doing. The big industry super funds, some of them with funds under management exceeding $200 billion, are deadset opposed to any measures which would see that money go anywhere else. It's a very comfortable arrangement for the union appointed directors on the boards of the big superannuation funds. Just think how enormous the management fee on $200 billion is.

The industry super funds hate the idea that Australians might be able to withdraw some of their own money and use it, for example, towards a deposit to buy their first home. This was Liberal policy at the last election, and it will be at the next election. It is a very good idea, and it is absolutely consistent with the notion that superannuation savings are there to help you save for your retirement, because there is nothing more important to a secure retirement than owning your own home. For all of Labor's talk about a dignified retirement, the simple fact is that what Labor really cares about is looking after the big union linked industry super funds.

The third thing that the Treasurer's speech was code for when he said 'starting a conversation' was that he wants to increase taxes on superannuation, and that conversation crystallised very quickly, within a week and a half. We got to the end of the conversation, and there he was, with the Prime Minister, announcing a new tax on superannuation. Why is this a problem? It's only 80,000 people affected, the Treasurer tells us, and they're all rich, so who cares? Well, it is a big problem. Labor told us repeatedly that they had no plans to increase taxes on super. On Melbourne radio 31 January 2022 the Prime Minister said, 'We have not planned for changes on superannuation.' On Insiders on 27 March the Treasurer said, 'Australia's shouldn't expect major changes to superannuation if the government changes hands.' On 2 May 2022 the Prime Minister said, 'We have no intention to make any super changes.'

Do not think it stops here. This is a government that is desperate to raise taxes. If they feel they can get away with this one, just look out for what else they might do. I've seen some commentary over the last few days along the lines of: 'Phew, it could have been much worse.' With respect, that commentary is a little bit naive, because, with each passing day, more details have come out, revealing that the number affected will be vastly greater than the 80,000 figure which glibly rolls off the Treasurer's tongue.

Ultimately, this goes to principles and values. The Treasurer was asked to rule out a capital gains tax on the family home and failed to do so. The Prime Minister rushed out a few minutes later to deny any such plans, but, given his clear and brazen broken promise on superannuation, who can believe him? The simple fact is that a Labor government always wants to impose higher taxes.

We heard soothing words from the Prime Minister and the Treasurer before this election. We were promised 'safe change'. We are getting something very different. We've seen the details of the measures as they've become announced. A lot of the details have clearly been made up on the run. We saw the argument from the Treasurer that this only cuts in at a big dollar amount so most people shouldn't be concerned, but the simple fact is that threshold is not indexed, so over time more and more people will be captured. This has been a very sneaky way to do this—very sneaky and tricky from a very sneaky and tricky Prime Minister. They denied before the election that they had any plans to do this. Of course, after the election they did exactly what they had denied they were going to do. The superannuation tax changes announced last week are troubling, and a clear and unambiguous example of a broken promise. I'm sorry to say, and I predict, that this will not be the only new tax measure we will see from this government.