Nick McKim (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I can shorthand the contribution we've just heard from Senator Cash and the contribution we were just about to hear from Senator McKenzie: won't somebody think of the wealthy superannuants in Australia? Let's be very clear here. The legislation that is the subject of this motion applies not to the wealthiest one per cent of superannuants in the country but to less than half a per cent of the wealthiest one per cent of superannuants in this country.

There are plenty of people in Australia who think we should blue-shell the one per cent. But that's not what Labor is proposing to do. They are proposing to increase—not by very much, I might add—the tax burden on the wealthiest half a per cent of superannuants. That is who the Liberal Party are coming in to bat for here. If you have $3 million in your superannuation fund, you are an extremely wealthy individual. Let us be abundantly clear here. The latest ATO data shows that just 0.6 per cent of people in Australia with a super account have a balance greater than $2 million. So that 0.6 of one per cent of people owns 14 per cent of the total value of superannuation balances in this country.

Just to be clear, the bill that the Liberals are going to die to destroy—politically speaking, of course—doesn't even cover all of that tiny, bloated cohort of people who make up 0.6 per cent of the superannuants in this country. Of course, that 0.6 per cent relates to people who have super balance accounts of over $2 million, but the bill would actually impact only on people who have superannuation accounts of above $3 million. And all it does is subject them to an additional 15 per cent capital appreciation tax.

The Liberals have come in here today basically to ask us to think about the bloated, tiny cohort of wealthy superannuants with balances of over $3 million. I'll tell you who the Greens are going to think of; we're thinking of people who can't afford to get their teeth fixed at the dentist. We're thinking of people who don't go to the GP, because they can't afford to see a doctor. And we're thinking of them because we believe big corporations and billionaires should be forced to pay their fair share of tax so that we can actually put dental care into Medicare and so that we can ensure people can visit a GP with no out-of-pocket costs. Instead of supporting the Greens on those principles and those policies, the Liberal Party have come in here today to die on the hill of defending wealthy superannuants—the top half of one per cent, who have over $3 million in their super accounts. They are the absolute top of the pile of wealthy superannuants, and they are the people the Liberal Party has come into this place today to defend.

That is not the priority of the Australian Greens. We are here to support people who can't afford to get their teeth fixed and are living with teeth literally rotting in their mouths because dental is not a part of Medicare. We are here to support people who make the agonising decision to not see their GP, because they know they're going to be faced with massive out-of-pocket expenses. Instead of supporting us on those things, the Liberals have come in here today to defend wealthy superannuants—less than half of one per cent of people in this country.