Cathy McGowan (Indi, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I am very pleased to second this motion and, in doing so, I congratulate my colleague the member for Mayo and draw the attention of the House to how well the crossbench work together. There is clearly a problem—the minister recognising it, the parliament recognising it—and what we have seen today is a really strong demonstration to all in the community of the really good work that happens in cooperation here on the crossbench. So, congratulations on this bill, Member for Mayo.

The Fair Work Amendment (Recovering Unpaid Superannuation) Bill 2017 really brings together many of the solutions that we know need to take place. In saying that, I call on the government to actually consider bringing on for debate, and a vote, many of these very sensible, very practical solutions that are coming from the crossbench. I will be working with the Clerk, with the Leader of the House and with the opposition on how we can bring this particular legislation to the House so that it can be voted on, and then we can have what this parliament does really well: the give and take so that we get better legislation through debate. I want to acknowledge your work, Member for Mayo, and say thank you.

Following a similar private members' motion that came through the House last week, when this topic was debated, I took an opportunity to speak to the minister and to ask for her commitment to follow through on this work. There are 32 recommendations made by the Senate Economics References Committee, and only some of them have been addressed—good to have some. I will invite my colleagues of the parliament to come with me and meet with the minister and her advisers as she explains some of her thinking. And some of the other areas I am particularly keen to work on include the impact of superannuation for women. We all know they are particularly disadvantaged in the workforce and their superannuation is so important, so I will look forward to my colleagues joining me in doing that.

What I really want to say to the government is: come and walk with us on this next step. Bring some of this really sensible private members' legislation to the parliament and let us have the debate, as we know we need to do. Let's do something about it. Let's not just leave it on the table. Let's have the legislation that we need and that is so well proposed by the member for Mayo. Let's actually take action on this really important topic.

Debate adjourned.

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