Kelly O'Dwyer (Higgins, Liberal Party, Minister for Revenue and Financial Services) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Petrie for his question. I note how hard he works on behalf of all of his constituents. What a great advocate he is. The government does recognise how important it is to ensure that Australians' retirement savings are protected from undue fees and charges. Why? Because 9.5 per cent of people's wages today are deferred into the future for their retirement income and the government has a responsibility to protect this money.

As part of the budget that we announced last night, the government will be introducing a sweeping package of reforms to help safeguard the superannuation of millions of Australians. We are capping the fees on low-balance accounts below $6,000. That will return around $570 million to people's retirement accounts. We are banning exit fees on all accounts. That will return $52 million to retirement accounts. We are improving the insurance arrangements to allow young members and those with inactive or low-balance accounts to choose whether or not they want cover. That is up to $3 billion returned to people's retirement accounts. For the first time we are giving the Australian Taxation Office the powers to proactively reunite people with their superannuation—their lost or inactive superannuation. This will mean that, in the first year alone, $6 billion will go back into the retirement accounts of millions of Australians.

These changes will take effect on 1 July 2019 and will mean that people will have more money in their retirement accounts. This is particularly important for young Australians. It will help them to build up their nest egg at the most important stage, as they are building their careers. It will mean for a median-income-earning 26-year-old with multiple accounts that they could save $5,300 in fees and premiums over the first 10 years, which will increase their balance at retirement by around $50,000. This is real money in people's accounts. It is because on this side of the chamber we recognise that superannuation money is members' money. It belongs to them; it should be reunited with them. Those on this side, just like they do with taxes, think that the money belongs to them or to vested interests within the superannuation movement.

The Leader of the Opposition has an opportunity on Thursday night to back these reforms, because it was the Leader of the Opposition, when he was minister for financial services, who mucked this up. He let there be a free-for-all on fees. He put young people into superannuation and we are fixing his mess. (Time expired)

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