Tammy Tyrrell (Tasmania, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I'll be supporting this bill because it makes our super system fairer and helps reduce inequality. Superannuation is one of the best things Australia has ever done. It means ordinary workers can retire with dignity after a lifetime of hard work. But, like any system, it has to keep evolving to stay fair. This bill makes a simple and sensible change. It means that super balances above $3 million will have earnings taxed at 30 per cent instead of 15 per cent, and balances above $10 million will have earnings taxed at 40 per cent. I reckon that's fair. Most Australians will never come close to those balances, but, when someone has many millions sitting in a tax advantaged account, it's reasonable that the tax treatment reflects that.

More importantly, this bill helps low-income earners from July next year. The low-income superannuation tax offset, known as LISTO, will increase from $500 to a maximum of $810 and will lift the income threshold up to $45,000. According to the Super Members Council, that change will benefit more than 28,000 low-income Tasmanians, putting about $400 extra into their super accounts. For people doing it tough, that extra boost will make a real difference over time.

But, let's be honest, the earlier version of this bill had some shocking components. It would have taxed unrealised gains, which would have hurt Tasmanian farmers badly. It also had the $3 million threshold locked in without indexation, which is incredibly short sighted. I fought hard to have those parts removed. I'm pleased the government listened. The revised bill is more equitable and doesn't hurt farmers, and the threshold is now indexed so it keeps place with inflation.

This reform will also help the budget bottom line. It's forecast that, by 2028-29, the new tax arrangements will raise around $2 billion. But here's the thing. Two billion dollars is still less than what we raise from the tax on beer, which brings in $2.7 billion, and it's more than half a billion dollars more than we collect from the tax on gas companies, which is expected to bring in just $1.5 billion this year. So, while this bill is good, we need to have a serious conversation about why Australia earns more from beer and from taxing wealthy super balances than we do from overseas gas giants. To me, that just isn't fair.

Finally, while we're talking about fairness in super, there's another reform we should tackle. Right now, workers under 18 are only guaranteed super if they work more than 30 hours a week for one employer. That rule is outdated. It was created to protect small balances from fees, but those protections already exist today. The reality is that most teenage workers, especially young women working part-time, don't get super on their wages because of this rule. Some employers do the right thing and pay it anyway, which is great, but fairness shouldn't depend on how generous your boss is. Women already retire with about 25 per cent less super than men, and that gap can start from their very first job. Scrapping the 30-hour threshold would help close that gap.

The Super Members Council says a typical teenage girl could have nearly $2½ thousand more in super by the age of 18, growing to about $11,000 more before retirement. A typical teenage boy could have about $2,000 more by 18 and around $9,000 more by retirement. That might not sound huge to some people, but it's real money. It's groceries for a year. It's the difference between a full fridge and worrying about how you'll get by.

It's time to scrap the under-18 carve-out and make sure every worker earns super from their first hour of work. I welcome this bill, but let's look at the broader tax and super system and make it fairer across the board. Let's be bold and think of our future generations.