Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Bragg for the question. The government is a strong supporter of the regulators and the regulatory system that has been put in place to make sure that, where there are issues of concern or where there are issues that the regulators identify as issues of concern, they take action. That's what we are seeing happen with some of the cases that Senator Bragg has been following and that I think he alludes to in his question. The government supports the regulatory system that has been put in place. We support having strong, independent regulators like ASIC and APRA and also support them being able to do their job without political interference. That would be the government's position.

We have a strong superannuation system. It's done a great job in terms of ensuring that members are accumulating funds for their retirement. We want to make sure those funds always act in their members' interests, and I think the superannuation industry scheme legislation is pretty specific about that. That's why we have APRA and ASIC doing the work that they need to do. Making sure that the superannuation system works in the interests of members, that there's transparency around that and, where there are problems, that those problems are investigated and responded to by the regulators is the system that the government supports.