Don Randall (Canning, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Local Government) Share this | Hansard source

I am pleased to speak on the Treasury Legislation Amendment (Unclaimed Money and Other Measures) Bill 2012. Let us be clear about what this bill is about. For those listening out there in the wider Australian audience, this is about a government that is trying to legitimise the ability to put its hand in the pockets of everyday Australians and take moneys out of superannuation accounts, home saver accounts and a whole range of accounts that have been inactive for some time. As the member for Forrest just explained to us, the problem is that the government has reduced the time thresholds.

Having an inactive account is not a sin, it is not illegal and it is not wrong. There are a whole range of reasons why you might have an inactive account. But the government, because they need to prop up the bottom line, because they know that they are in financial trouble—they have this fascination with a $1.1 billion surplus, which they know is just a fantasy—but to make it look good they are rushing this legislation through the parliament today, without industry consultation and without proper scrutiny by the Senate's Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services. The joint committee wanted to examine this bill and it has not been given the opportunity and time to do so in any meaningful way. So it has been rushed through today because, at the MYEFO update only weeks ago, Treasurer Wayne Swan said he wanted to grab this money to prop up the government's bottom line.

This government has financial problems; it is running out of money. The fact that it is borrowing $100 million a day from China is not enough. It now wants to raid the bank accounts, the superannuation accounts and home saver accounts of ordinary Australians who are out there in the wider community. So we are going to reserve our position on this bill until the outcome of a further Senate inquiry, at a date to be announced. This is desperate legislation and it is quite unseemly that it would be in this place today. This year the amount of unclaimed money held by ASIC has risen to $677 million and the Treasurer, Wayne Swan, is licking his lips in anticipation because he wants to get this money—after squandering the money he had been given through the taxation system. This bill seeks to reduce the length of time unclaimed money sits in an account before it can be transferred to government coffers. In other words, it would expedite this government getting their hands on money which Australians are entitled to.

Imagine if we had made such a money grab. Imagine if Peter Costello had done this. You would have heard a hue and cry: 'What are you doing to the workers of Australia? What are you doing to the ordinary mums and dads of Australia? You are raiding their bank accounts. You are raiding their home saver accounts. You are raiding their superannuation accounts.' We would have been, in the words of those on the other side, the ultimate Tory thieves helping ourselves to Australians' moneys. But, as the Prime Minister says, 'This is the Labor way.' It is the Labor way today—helping themselves to this money.

This bill was introduced the last time we met—three weeks ago. It was introduced, I understand, on the Tuesday night. I happened to be on duty in the chamber on the Wednesday morning when it was brought to this House. The shadow Treasurer, Joe Hockey, was here ready to speak on this bill and he was furious because he had only received notification that it was coming into this House the night before. There had been no opportunity to consult with industry. Given the complexities and the significant implications associated with the bill, the coalition sought to have the bill referred to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services. A meeting of that committee was called immediately and at that meeting it was decided that the bill should be referred to the committee for review. As I said, on the Wednesday that decision was respectfully overturned by the Speaker and it became clear that the government wanted the bill passed that week.

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