Lisa Darmanin (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm pleased to be able to take some time today to talk about a couple of things that I didn't get to yesterday in the debate to pass the Treasury Laws Amendment (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Bill 2026, which is important legislation.

I spoke a lot about the LISTO yesterday, but what I didn't get a chance to speak about was the other changes to restore fairness and balance around taxation. The division 296 changes in the bill that we passed yesterday will reduce tax concessions available to individuals with total superannuation balances exceeding $3 million, and this is all in the name of fairness. It is important to note with these changes that the legislation will apply to less than 0.5 per cent of Australians, or fewer than 80,000 people in total. That is the current number of Australians with balances over $3 million. The higher rate of taxes on balances above $10 million will affect less than 0.1 per cent of the population—about 8,000 people out of 17 million superannuation account holders. This is really about restoring fairness.

Some facts that were not mentioned in the debate yesterday are that super tax concessions cost the budget more than $60 billion per year and will exceed the cost of the age pension in the 2040s. In particular, tax concessions for those with account balances above $3 million currently cost $55 billion per annum. That's $55 billion per annum going to 80,000 people out of 17 million in this country. This legislation represents a very important and necessary rebalancing of how superannuation is taxed and how concessions should work—all in the name of fairness. As the numbers indicate, existing tax breaks overwhelmingly benefit a small number of people with very high balances that are well beyond what is required for a comfortable and dignified retirement. If you're a retiree with a super balance above $3 million, I'd take a wild guess that you're doing well better off than those who are reliant on the LISTO.

Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! It being 1.30, we will now go to two-minute statements.