Zhi Soon (Banks, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In October last year, I spoke in this House about the changes the government was making to the superannuation system to better serve the interests of working people, particularly low-income workers. It is why I was so pleased to see the Labor government's latest reforms to the superannuation system passed the parliament this week as part of the building a stronger and fairer super system legislation.

As a result of this government's ambitious agenda, the low-income superannuation tax offset will be raised from $310 to $810, and raises the eligibility threshold to $45,000 from 1 July next year. This timing is deliberate, aligning with the third round of the Labor government's cost-of-living tax cuts for every taxpayer, ensuring that low-income workers receive a fairer tax concession on their contributions. These workers will receive a boost of up to $810 to their superannuation account, depending on the size of their contribution, with an average increase of $410 for affected workers. Over the course of someone's career, this can add up to around $15,000 by the time they retire.

Recent analysis by the Super Members Council showed that the proposed changes to the LISTO would benefit more than 1.2 million Australians, including 9,321 hardworking constituents in my electorate of Banks. Indeed, when looking at the estimated number of beneficiaries among electorates in New South Wales, Banks comes in at sixth. And when looking to the average additional super, Banks ranks fourth, with each of those nearly 9½ thousand constituents ending up an average of $438 better off. And when it comes to total estimated benefit, low-income workers in Banks are $4.1 million better off, and on that metric my electorate ranks second in New South Wales, behind only my good friend the member for Parramatta. This is a significant win for the people of Banks.

Much has been made by those opposite about these changes, but the truth is that 14 times as many people will have improved their tax position under these changes compared to those that will be adversely affected. This is what real reform looks like. It maintains favourable tax treatment of superannuation while making the system better and fairer, by making a dignified retirement possible for hundreds of thousands of Australians, including 9,321 constituents in my electorate of Banks.