Matt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Financial Services) Share this | Hansard source

I won't refer to you anymore. There you go!

If those rebel MPs get their way, what it will mean is that vulnerable Australian workers are going to end up with less in their superannuation retirement savings at the end of the day and will potentially have to rely on the age pension to fund a comfortable retirement. That will increasingly put pressure on the Australian budget as our population ages. And it's more than a few rogue players on the backbench; it's a reflection of the ideology that many in the coalition have around the notion of universal superannuation in this country.

The retirement income review shouldn't be a stalking horse for further delays to the legislated increase in the SGC to 12 per cent. Too many Australians retire without adequate retirement savings, which is why our super system needs to be strengthened and protected, not undermined. Labor created a world-class system so that every Australian could have some dignity in retirement. We will always fight to protect that system, including against the remarks by members opposite that are seeking to undermine that compulsory increase from nine to 12 per cent into the future.

Once again, Labor issues caution with respect to the passage of this bill. That's why we have referred it to a Senate inquiry to look at whether or not Australian workers are actually going to end up worse off if they are forced into underperforming funds. That's something that we need to be satisfied with before we offer wholehearted support for this bill.

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