Matt Thistlethwaite (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Basil Mastilis, a partner at Ernst & Young; Noel Mullen, the deputy chief executive at the Australian Petrol Production and Exploration Association; Anthony Portas, head of tax at Asia Pacific Anglo American; and Gordon Thring, corporate and international tax partner at Deloitte. These are the people who, in the words of Senator Cormann, are 'in the back pocket of the government' when it comes to drafting this piece of legislation. They provided valuable input through the legislative drafting process and it reflects the view of the government that this is a necessary reform and one that we have consulted widely on.

The revenue raised from this tax will go to funding superannuation increases in our economy. We will move the compulsory superannuation level from nine to 12 per cent over the course of the next eight years. With an ageing population and an increasing burden on our budget and on our social security system, this is a major economic reform and an important economic reform. Up until a couple of weeks ago, it was opposed by the opposition, in line with their historical opposition to occupational superannuation in this country. When the Labor Party sought to introduce superannuation in the 1990s, it was opposed by those opposite. Now we have in our economy $1.3 trillion of funds under management and those funds are used for investment and growth by companies and to support jobs.