Warren Snowdon (Lingiari, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for External Territories) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the parliamentary secretary for his kind words and for his contribution to this debate on the Australian Defence Force Superannuation Bill 2015 and two related bills. I will deal in the first instance with the ADFP Program which he referred to. It was the former member for Wannon and I who thought this idea up, and I have to say that his advocacy was very important. To get the program started required a bit of educating—not only of parliamentarians but also of our friends in Russell. It quickly became apparent that it was in the mutual interests of the parliament and the defence community for parliamentarians to have a deeper understanding of the Defence Force and Defence Force personnel in particular. That was in part as a result of the fact that very few members of the then parliament, apart from Mr Edwards, were service veterans; whereas, in the periods post the Second World War and the First World War, a large proportion of the members of parliament had been serving personnel and had a deep and ongoing relationship with the Defence Force community. That is not the case in parliament today.

Setting up the program was a way of raising the awareness of members of parliament who are policymakers, decision makers and legislators around issues to do with the defence community, giving them an experience of what happens in the defence forces. The member sitting opposite me, Ms Ley, has been on the defence participation program. If my memory serves me correctly, she even went to the Middle East with the former member for Bendigo on one of our naval vessels. Those experiences do a number of things. They open up the eyes of members of parliament to the work which our Defence Force members undertake in all areas—not only those who are at the front line and carry weapons but also those who do the cooking, those who look after the health care of our serving personnel and those who work in the ACAT program currently in the Northern Territory looking at the civilian participation and looking at developing civil infrastructure in Aboriginal communities, which happens each year. There is not an area of Defence Force activity—apart from Special Forces—which has not been open to participation in this program. I credit the former Howard government, initially, and the subsequent governments for continuing the program; and I commend the defence community and the defence forces in particular for playing host to members of parliament and for helping them to overcome their ignorance, and perhaps their unfitness, to allow them to see what they do, how they do it and to work with them wherever they might be. I thank the parliamentary secretary for that.

This bill is the culmination of a lot of discussion. In February 2007 there was a policy proposal from the then Howard government which announced a review of military superannuation arrangements. I want to thank the Bills Digest for reminding me of this. A review was undertaken, commonly known as the Podger review, and it made a number of recommendations that did not come to light even though the report was finished in March of 2006, I think. I cannot quite recall the date, but it was not released by the government, so it was not until the Rudd government was elected that the report was released. I was then the minister responsible and released that Podger report, and then we undertook a further period of discussion and consultation. Then in 2010, we made it clear that, as a result of those communications and the consultation across the breadth of the Defence and veterans communities, we would not be proceeding with the recommendations of the Podger report.

The new superannuation scheme which is being proposed brings about quite important change. It brings the ADF into line with the rest of the government sector, in not having a defined benefit scheme with its attendant long-term liabilities—and that is a huge responsibility. The unfunded liability that exists is enormous. For the first time, ADF members will be able to transfer their super scheme to new employment when they leave the ADF, and it is now possible for ADF members to move in and out of the service without incurring costs and rigidities in their superannuation. For example, employer contributions can be carried across to new employment, which would not be possible under the old defined benefit scheme. That was a real issue, because people legitimately said: 'Look, I've been serving in the Defence Force for 10 years. I'm leaving the Defence Force. I want to go to a new employer, and I can't take my superannuation with me.'

The bill contains arrangements for the establishment of the trust deed for ADF Super and the administration of the scheme by the Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation. It provides eligibility requirements for the scheme and other provisions relating to the variation of the trust deed and legislation relating to ADF Super. Importantly, although not a provision of the bill, this is proposing a contribution rate of 16.4 per cent as an important element in assessing whether a new superannuation scheme is desirable balanced against the other changes. We strongly support the fact that the employer contribution rate is to be 16.4 per cent, which is higher than the general public sector rate. This reflects, as it should, the unique nature of military service, which arises from a number of factors, including: the liability for combat operations, the military disciplinary code, the regimented way of life, long and irregular working hours, statutory retiring ages well below the community norms, higher standards of physical fitness, frequent relocation and separation from family.

I recommend that young Australians think about having a career in the Defence Force, for a range of reasons. I note that the member for Leichhardt will shortly be speaking on this. He will, no doubt, tell of us of his proud record and proud history as a Defence Force member. I am sure that he, like me, would encourage young Australians to think about a career in the Defence Force because it offers enormous opportunity. Not only does it offer enormous opportunity in terms of careers; it places you in a position of great respect by the broader community. I think that the average length of service is around seven or eight years; it is not long. It is a young Defence community; we see young people sign up and do their service, and many have left by their mid-20s, but they have left with skills. That is very important. They have left with an experience of managing themselves in a team environment, of looking after themselves and those around them, and of seeing what good leadership principles may be. Of course, others stay in the Defence Force—particularly those who become offices or senior NCOs. Some stay in the Defence Force for their working life, and they are to be commended for it, because it is a huge obligation. It has great benefits, but it also has great sacrifices. That is why this legislation is important and that is why the contribution rate of 16.4 per cent is appropriate.

The ADF program that we spoke about earlier is so important. I do not think that there is a wide enough understanding in the general community of the sacrifices which are made by our Defence Force members as individuals and by their families. Whether you are on a patrol boat off the northern Australia coast, on a frigate in the Middle East, working at Al Minhad or one of the other bases for an extended period of time, flying fast jets into Iraq, looking after fuel tankers or whatever it is, it is a really important function. However major or however minor they might appear to those outside, they are very important things that are being done on our behalf.

Internationally, we have a tremendous reputation because of our Defence Forces. As much as we applaud what they do, as we should, we need to recognise far more the sacrifices which are made by their families—by their partners, by their children, by their mothers and by their fathers—sadly, those who, we know, suffer as a result of war casualties. We know also that, as a result of our experience in Middle East over the last decade or so, we have many young Australians who finish their service with real mental health issues. It is important that, when we think about this superannuation bill, we understand all of these things. We are not doing this because we want to just be beneficent. We are doing this because it should be a national requirement for us to do it—through this legislation, to give our men and women in uniform, and their families, the recognition that they so properly deserve.

I was what we called in the sixties a 'Saturday soldier'; I was in the CMF for a few years, but I have never been in harm's way. I have never been asked to do the dreadful jobs that our seamen have to do off the coast of northern Australia on patrol boats. I have never been asked to make a life-and-death decision about what should happen at a particular moment in time. I have never been asked to make those sorts of sacrifices, and very few people in this parliament have. And too few in the community understand what that actually means for us. So this Defence Force program which we spoke about earlier is important in enlightening us as legislators and making us aware of the obligations we have. But it is very important that we say to the wider Australian community that they should not only be very proud of our Defence Force members and what they do but, most importantly, they should also understand the sacrifices which their families are making for them to be able to do the job that we are so proud of. It is fundamental. So when we are looking at this sort of legislation we need to ensure that we say to everyone that this is just what they should be getting. Our Defence Force members are different from us; they are not like those of us in this House. They are different because they have agreed to put a uniform on and potentially sacrifice their lives for us. That alone should be enough to validate the importance of ensuring that their employer contribution to their superannuation is higher than for the general public sector rate and higher than for most other Australians. That alone should be the reason for doing it. I commend the legislation to the House.

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