Julian Hill (Bruce, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I know: socialising the losses caused by the economy in a much cheaper and more economically effective way. What a surprise from this mob! In the last few months alone, Australians have withdrawn $32 billion from their super accounts. As I said, 560,000 Australians now have not one cent left in their superannuation account. Even the government admits that, by the end of the year, at least $42 billion will be gone, with upper estimates in the order of $50 billion.

But the real disgrace is that the largest single source of economic stimulus that the government has injected into the economy is from superannuation. They have privatised the stimulus. That's taking privatisation to a new level—even for this mob! It's bad enough to outsource Centrelink. It's bad enough to outsource the NDIA, with 7,000 casual temporary workers there. It's bad enough that the tax office is run by labour hire staff. Now they have privatised their stimulus! Australians have spent more from their super on getting through this crisis than the government has provided in any single line item in their so-called response. They've spent more from low-income workers' super accounts than they have on JobKeeper or the JobSeeker supplement or any other element of their response—let alone the lax administration of the scheme by the government, with the fraud and the scams. Nutty government backbenchers have been running around on Sky News telling everyone: 'This is free money. Go and have a crack, have a withdrawal. Just get it out. It's free money!' It's irresponsible.

I'm not blaming the individuals, but we have seen that a significant percentage of people who have got the money out haven't told the truth or haven't filled out the form properly—because they've listened to these nutters on the TV. The fact is that that has now exposed people who have misused the scheme to severe fines and penalties—$12½ thousand—and potentially a whacking big tax bill in the middle of the pandemic. And compounding it—this is a gold-medal award in the Olympics of policy stupidity—is the impact on every other Australian, the 14½ million Australians who still have at least a dollar in their super account, by getting these people to withdraw their money at the bottom of the market. It has a compounding effect on the problems and on the value of the assets. It is the worst possible time in the economic cycle for these economic geniuses opposite to let people withdraw from their retirement savings.

The final couple of points I'll make in this time are about the two great big lies that the snake oil salesmen opposite stand up and tell you. The first is about wages. Somehow they're saying, 'When the Liberals cut superannuation, don't worry.' It's a con trick. 'Then workers'll get higher wages.' Work that out: 'If we cut superannuation, you'll get higher wages—nothing to worry about,' which is absolute rubbish. Superannuation is part of your wages. It's part of your pay in this country. Cutting super is cutting your wage. Wages, of course, are stagnant under the Liberals. We've had record low wage rises for years under this government. Stagnant wages didn't just come in when the Prime Minister became prime minister after knifing the last one; they came in seven years ago. For many workers, next year's 0.5 per cent legislated superannuation rise is the only wage rise they're going to see under this government. Even if the Liberals got away with their plan to cancel the 0.5 per cent rise, there's no guarantee, of course, that it'll go to take-home pay. In fact, it's highly unlikely, in Prime Minister Morrison's recession, that for most people it will go anywhere near their pay packet. It'll get swallowed by the employer.

The second big con trick that the government is trying to pull on the Australian people is that somehow this is going to be a choice between having a dignified retirement by having your super wage rise—of 0.5 per cent, mind—and owning a house. They're pretending that somehow it'd be good for homeownership if we let everyone withdraw their super and buy a house. What a con trick! Not only is it effectively trashing the retirement income system but it'd push up house prices. Imagine pouring that much cash into people's pockets to go and bid up house prices and leave average Australians poorer in retirement. That'd be a runner for the gold medal in the stupid policy Olympics when they enter next year, no doubt.

The national wealth from the superannuation system that Labor built is stupendous. It boosts our national savings. It's enormously beneficial for the economy. That $2.8 trillion pool of savings helps grow the economy and invest in projects in Australia and overseas. The fact is that Australian workers now own more of the wealth that our country produces. It's a wonderful thing. That huge pool of capital that our nation has at its disposal is owned by all Australians, not multinationals or wealthy corporates. Superannuation funds now reduce Australia's reliance on foreign sources of finance. Anyone concerned about foreign investment should be very aware of the role that superannuation plays in creating an investment pool here and overseas. Since 2013, finally, Australians have owned more equity overseas than foreigners have owned in Australia, and that's because of superannuation, because we have this $2.8 trillion pool of national savings that we can take and invest in assets, infrastructure, agriculture and other productive things not just in Australia but also in other countries and projects overseas. That's a wonderful thing, because it means that we get profits from those investments overseas that come back and make Australians wealthier.

There's a lot more to be said, and I know my colleagues will talk more. There's another superannuation bill, and we'll be back here for more. But let there be no mistake for Australians: Labor will always defend the superannuation system that provides for a decent, dignified retirement for Australians, makes them wealthier and also boosts our national economy. The Prime Minister's plan to break his promise and cut superannuation and wages will be opposed by this side of the House.

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