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

I'm afraid to say this, but the member for Melbourne clearly hasn't actually read the Treasury Laws Amendment (2018 Superannuation Measures No. 1) Bill 2018 and has displayed for the world to see his profound ignorance of the government's changes when it comes to the superannuation guarantee. There is not only this legislation that we are debating today but also a superannuation guarantee integrity bill, the Treasury Laws Amendment (2018 Measures No. 4) Bill 2018, that goes to the very heart of the issues he's talking about—introduced, by the way, by a Liberal government—and, I'm very happy to say, very much supports workers being paid their entitlements. We actually do understand that superannuation is the workers' money. It's not the government's money, it's not the union's money, it's not the employer's money. It actually belongs to workers. We have put in place very tough measures in order to make sure people get the money they are owed under the superannuation guarantee.

I would like to thank those members who have contributed to this debate—in particular, those who, unlike the member for Melbourne, have actually read the legislation. The government is acting to improve the integrity of the superannuation guarantee, with the introduction of near-real-time reporting on superannuation guarantee obligations and payments. The Australian Taxation Office will be able to detect and act on non-payment of workers' entitlements much more effectively and with much greater severity going forward, including, in some instances, up to 12 months jail for employers who continue to do the wrong thing by their workers. To address historical noncompliance, this bill offers a limited, once-off 12-month opportunity for employers to come forward and pay their workers what they're owed. I think that's important to note. This is the last chance employers will get to come forward and receive concessional penalty treatment.

After the amnesty concludes, the Australian Taxation Office will take a dim view of those employers that could have come forward but failed to do so. It will not mean, though, that the worker receives one dollar less of the superannuation that they are entitled to. In fact, they get their superannuation plus the interest for the superannuation that hasn't been paid over that time period. So, the worker gets every single dollar that they're entitled to. The only people who miss out on a penalty payment are the government, and we are doing that because we recognise that, if we have an amnesty period, around 50,000 employees will receive around $230 million worth of their superannuation entitlements, which are vital retirement savings that they would otherwise potentially miss out on.

The Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, as well as various organisations representing small business, commerce, accounting and the superannuation industry, are united in their support of the amnesty. That is because they know workers will get the payments that they are entitled to. The bill also streamlines compliance with superannuation guarantee, allowing employees to opt out of the regime where they would inadvertently breach their concessional contributions cap. This bill safeguards the integrity of the government's comprehensive 2016-17 superannuation taxation reforms. The bill does so by ensuring that limited recourse borrowing arrangements and related party transactions cannot be used to circumvent the contributions cap, and will prevent flow-on effects to people who are not engaged in gaming behaviour. I commend the bill to the House.

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