Bernie Ripoll (Oxley, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister Assisting the Leader for Small Business) Share this | Hansard source

A fine and excellent contribution, and that is why he is doing so well. I do rise to speak on the Treasury Legislation Amendment (Repeal Day) Bill 2014. There are a number of measures that I want to speak to, each of them separately. They are all important and make some important changes, in particular to the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993, to repeal the pay slip reporting provisions.

The pay slip reporting provisions in the SIS Act require employers to include an employee pay slip information prescribed by the regulations. People would be familiar with this when they look at their pay slips and see a number of things that are included, including their superannuation entitlements and payments. It was intended that regulations be made so that employers had to report on pay slips the superannuation contributions and the date on which the employer expects to pay them. This has not occurred. There were existing requirements in the Fair Work Act 2009 and the Fair Work Regulations 2009 for employers to include in pay slips the amount of superannuation contributions they are liable to make. These regulations are not changing. The requirement for superannuation guarantee payments to be made within 28 days the end of a quarter is also not changing. The provisions this bill is removing were enacted in legislation but never made a practical reality for business because the regulations needed to enact them were never put in place.

There is no doubt that the intentions of the original changes were good. The reality for employers, though—particularly small business—was increased cost via software and other upgrades. It is arguable whether the requirements being repealed would have any affect at all on those negligent, unscrupulous employers who intend not to pay superannuation. In light of that, these changes have been brought forward.

Employees will still be able to check with their fund whether payments have been made by their employer. That is critically important. Labor will monitor closely the issue of unpaid superannuation payments, as should the government, because this is an important part of an employee's salary and payments. It is just what ordinary people are paid. The same as anybody else, we expect that when we get a pay slip and it details how much we are paid, it also includes superannuation contributions. There is of course an expectation that those payments have actually been paid into our respective accounts, wherever they might be. We will monitor that and we would expect the government to do the same thing, particularly in light of the importance of superannuation in terms of boosting people's retirement savings.

There is no political party in Australia that has done more to boost the retirement savings of Australians than Labor has. Going back many years, Labor has recognised that ordinary people need to have a mechanism available to them through the superannuation guarantee to set aside money for their independence and financial security in retirement. As noble a cause as it is, it is an important cause for individuals and families. What it also means is a huge saving to government, to the budget and to the bottom line.

This is a good measure. Just last financial year alone, some $6 billion was saved from the budget because of superannuation savings held by ordinary Australians. They are people who, because of their retirement savings, either do not rely at all on the pension system or other welfare payments or rely only in part on government payments. This is something that should be encouraged. It should be grown; it should be leveraged up. The government should do as much as they can to ensure that continues to happen and to ensure the stability of the system. This first schedule is important in making sure that we understand the basis of what is contained on people's pay slips.

Schedule 2 makes mechanical and non-controversial changes to the Taxation Administration Act 1953 and consolidates duplicated provisions. It also repeals redundant laws and moves longstanding regulations into primary law. Labor supports these measures. They are good measures and measures that, in government, we were also moving towards. This is always the case. Regardless of how long you are in government, you cannot do everything all in one day or all in many days. Like all governments, towards the end of a term there is always some unfinished business. This is part of that unfinished business.

Schedule 3 to this bill amends the Financial Sector (Shareholdings) Act 1998 so that persons who do not hold a direct control interest in a financial sector company will no longer be deemed to have a stake in that financial sector company solely as a consequence of their associate's direct control interest in the company. Under the existing law, a person must obtain approval from the Treasurer to hold a stake in a financial sector company of more than 15 per cent. A 'stake' is defined in clause 10 of schedule 1 of the FSSA as the aggregate of the direct control interest held by that person and the direct control interest held by associates of that person. 'Associates' is widely defined in clause 4 of schedule 1 of the FSSA to include a person's relatives, partners, related companies and other parties. Where a person acquires a direct control interest in a financial sector company of more than 15 per cent, the associate of the person is required to also obtain approval to exceed the 15 per cent shareholding limit. This can be despite the associate holding no direct control interest, or indeed any interest, in the financial sector company. This imposes a burden for associates to reasonably comply with the law, particularly where associates are not aware of the requirement to seek the Treasurer's approval.

The measures in this bill mean a person who does not hold a direct control interest in a financial sector company will no longer be deemed to hold a stake in that company solely as a consequence of their associates' direct control interest in the company. Only where a person holds a direct control interest of any size would the interest be aggregated with that of the person's associates to determine the total stake held. For an associate holding a direct control interest in a financial sector company, the associate's stake is equivalent to the aggregate of their own stake and that of other associates, including the person acquiring the actual direct control interest. The associate is required to seek the Treasurer's approval where the aggregated stake exceeds the 15 per cent shareholding limit. It is important to note that these changes will ensure that there is appropriate examination of a shareholder's controlling interest. But it will take away the trap of associates who have no control interest in having to apply to the Treasurer in order to comply with the law. Labor supports removing this unnecessary burden.

Further, schedule 4 rewrites provisions from the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 into the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 and the Taxation Administration Act 1953 to unify the definition of 'Australia' for tax purposes. This is a non-controversial mechanical change with no fiscal impact. Labor supports this change as well.

Labor is always prepared to support any fair and reasonable amendments and changes that improve the management and structure of our financial services sector, or other measures that improve consumer protections and also improve the ability of business to deal with regulation properly. Labor understands that good regulation is the best outcome for business, where that regulation is clear and concise and where it provides the right mechanisms for business to get on with their job. Labor wants to make sure that, particularly in the case of superannuation, employees have a clear understanding of what is required by employers in terms of providing their superannuation guarantee. This is in the best interest not only of individuals; it is also in the best interest of employers, companies and business.

It is in the best interest of Australia because it grows our national savings pool, which today stands at more than $1.85 trillion. It is this incredible statistic which puts Australia well ahead of the world in terms of size of population and in terms of our national savings. We have somewhere around the fifth largest funds under management in the world because of our national savings pool, which is a direct outcome, a direct result, of the superannuation guarantee that exists in this country. Governments should always be enhancing that and growing that, and ensuring that people are not only paid their proper superannuation entitlements but paid on time. Employers should endeavour to always be vigilant around paying the Superannuation Guarantee because it is an important part of people's retirement savings and income, and their financial security in retirement. The changes that are before us are non-controversial and Labor supports them. I commend them to the House.

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