Alan Griffin (Bruce, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is a pleasure to follow on from a speaker such as my friend the member for Forde. We often spend some time together on a Thursday morning endeavouring to try and get fit, remembering what we were—well, at least what he was—once like many years ago when it came to the question of sport. I am consistent. I am as bad as I was then: still pretty bad.

This legislation makes a series of amendments to our superannuation law. Schedule 1 of the legislation implements the government's reforms relating to penalties for illegal early release schemes as part of the Stronger Super reforms. The bills will introduce civil and criminal penalties for persons who promote schemes for the illegal early release of superannuation benefits.

Schedule 2 of the legislation allows rollovers to self-managed superannuation funds from regulated superannuation funds that are not SMSFs to be captured as a designated service under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006. This amendment will ensure that consideration is given to the money laundering and terrorism financing risks associated with the rollover of assets to an SMSF and that appropriate customer identification and reporting obligations exist when assets exit the prudentially regulated superannuation sector.

Schedule 3 of the legislation provides for administrative consequences for trustees of self-managed superannuation funds by given the Commissioner of Taxation the power to issue education and rectification directions and impose administrative penalties for contraventions of the Superannuation Industry Supervision Act 1993 and the superannuation industry supervision regulations. These amendments will provide the Commissioner of Taxation with effective, flexible and cost-effective mechanisms to deal with non-compliance with the law.

The ITR bill introduces the superannuation fund non-complying rate of 45 per cent to amounts released by illegal means. The Commissioner of Taxation retains the discretion to determine that it is unreasonable to subject amounts released by illegal means to the 45 per cent rate, having regard to the nature of the fund and the circumstances of release.

Superannuation is an incredibly important part of the financial system for the future of generations of Australians, now and in the future. It is a system that the Labor government has been proud to support over the last 20-plus years and is proud to support at this time. It is an important part of the future security of generations as they get older. I commend the bills to the House.

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