Andrew Bragg (NSW, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Housing and Homelessness) | Hansard source

I make the point that, if a self-managed super fund wants to invest in an off-the-plan development, then it is adding to housing stock. By definition, the trustees are not able to live in that dwelling. It seems very strange to me that a government that says it wants to increase housing supply has adopted a policy which was written by the super funds to stop SMSFs from investing in property because they're worried about their market share.

I find very grating the amount of time this Senate spends working through the laundry list of issues from the super lobby. Everything is about how they can get more money, akin to Dracula and the blood bank, whether it is trying to give 16-year-olds more superannuation or trying to ban self-managed funds from doing things to ensure the market position of the major funds, which obviously are worried about haemorrhaging members to SMSFs.

The idea that people are too stupid to manage their own financial affairs is, frankly, offensive. People are not stupid. People are better informed than they ever have been. People are able to go deep on a number of technical issues that may not have been possible in years gone by because of the different technologies people now have in the palm of their hand. There's the idea that this parliament will work through the laundry list of issues from the big super funds, who are desperate to have more money. Their solution to every problem is more money for them to manage and charge high fees on, so they can send distributions back to their mates. I make the point that the government should be very careful about adopting more and more policies every week that have been written by vested interests. They should be smarter than that and be able to see it for what it is.