Josh Frydenberg (Kooyong, Liberal Party, Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Wright for his question and acknowledge his strong commitment to protecting the savings of all Australians in super. Australia's pool of superannuation savings is the fourth largest in the world. In 1997, it was $300 billion, today it is $1.9 trillion and it will grow to $9 trillion by 2040. David Murray's financial systems inquiry has called superannuation a substitute or a supplement to the age pension. That is why we on this side of the House have made a commitment to no adverse or unexpected changes to super.

I am asked: am I aware of any alternatives? I am aware of an alternative, and it is taxes on super coming from those opposite. Who could forget that famous quote in 2007 by Kevin Rudd on the eve of the election when he said he would not make one change—not one jot, one tittle—to superannuation? What we saw was 12 adverse changes to superannuation—$9 billion of additional taxes on super. So ashamed and so embarrassed was the member for McMahon about the Labor Party's performance on super that he rushed out, as Treasurer, a press release on 31 July 2013 titled 'Five year freeze on superannuation changes'.

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