David Van (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank my good friend Senator Sterle for reminding us of the Hawke-Keating years. That Labor government took interest rates to 18 per cent. Their Treasurer, Paul Keating, said we went into a recession that we had to have. So when will we hear Dr Chalmers say we're having another recession that we had to have? We're seeing history repeat itself with this government, although it looks more like the Whitlam government than the Hawke-Keating government. I also thank the Treasurer for reminding Australians that Labor will always go after their money.

How can the Australian people trust anything this government says after seeing yet another broken promise? They said before the election—many, many times—that they wouldn't make any changes to super. It didn't take them long to change that, did it? It's clear now that the Labor government do not see superannuation as a vehicle for Australians to support themselves in their retirement. It's a piggy bank to bankroll their election campaigns.

This $3 million—Senator Sterle said he put money aside, he super sacrificed. I almost guarantee you that most of those people with $3 million made decisions to sacrifice some of their salary and put it into superannuation because there was always a pact, with the Australian people and the Australian government, that the rules for super would stay as they are and they could have some faith in how they invested. Then the Assistant Treasurer grotesquely referred to people's super as 'honey from a hive'. It's truly a sick joke. People go to work their entire lives. They work hard, sacrifice some of their salary and save money. The Labor government doesn't say, 'Good on you, mate, well done. Go and enjoy your retirement.' Stephen Jones looks at it and says, 'How much of that can I get my hands on?'

This is not the first time Assistant Minister Jones has been caught out trying to pull the wool over the eyes of Australians over super changes. Let's not forget that, within weeks of coming to government, one of Assistant Minister Jones's first acts was to direct the Treasury to look at how it could support industry super funds to get away with poor performance and mismanagement, trying to underdo the important transparency mechanisms that we put in place in government under the Your Future, Your Super legislation. Despite going to the election promising lower taxes and no change to super, this government has decided to make changes to super by doubling the tax on those higher thresholds. This is a long list of election promises and lies that this government has made.

Let's not forget that the Prime Minister promised 97 times that he would reduce Australian people's power bills by $275. Instead, he's delivered the most expensive average wholesale electricity on record. They promised cheaper mortgages, and almost every Australian homeowner knows that Labor outright lied on that one, with mortgages going through the roof after the ninth consecutive rate rise. That is since May 2022, when the election was. This government even promised to lower inflation. In January, we saw inflation at 7.8 per cent for December, which is the highest it's been since 1990. They also promised higher wages, but we've just seen the biggest drop in real wages in recorded history.

We know that this government will not deliver on its promises. We know that this government will change its mind on things. Every Australian out there listening to this must remember that, when they say that it's only 0.5 per cent of people who hold super funds, and it's only a modest increase—modest, my backside; a 50 per cent increase is not modest in anyone's books—when they say they're not going to change this, you cannot believe them. You cannot believe a word that comes out of their mouths. They will lower that threshold. They're telling you now that they won't, but, mark my words, they will. They'll increase that concessional rate such that Australians who've worked hard and saved hard are going to be paying more and more and more under this government. They lie. Do not trust them.