Julian Simmonds (Ryan, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Member for Braddon.

Dr Chalmers interjecting—

Thank you, Member for Rankin. I appreciate the members' congratulations. But the point to be made here is that, at this point in my life, with a young family, it's important to me that we as a government do everything we can to support mums and dads as they raise their families and, ultimately, as they return to work and use their working lives to plan for retirement.

The decisions we make throughout our working lives have a bearing on our future, particularly into retirement, and this government recognises that the modern workplace is changing and will continue to change. People are seeking more options when it comes to their work arrangements during the different stages of their lives, and workplaces are rightly adapting so they retain the best of those staff. Just as we are seeing our workplaces change and evolve, now, more than ever, so too must our plans for retirement. That's why I'm particularly pleased to support this legislation today. It's about an important measure to ensure that our super system is able to reflect the flexibility we are seeing in modern Australian workplaces.

Fundamentally, we believe that Australians should be given as much flexibility as possible when it comes to spending and saving their own money. You only have to look at the outrage from the previous Labor speaker and how they consistently spoke about their concerns about the government's recent decision to let Australians doing it tough withdraw their super to help get them through this tough time. We have to remember—and it goes back to this fundamental principle—that it's their money. It's their money in their superannuation accounts. It's not the Labor Party's money. It's not the industry super fund manager's money. It's the Australian people's money.

We know Labor's outrage is because, fundamentally, they like to tell Australians what they can do with their money. Labor think they can spend your money better than you can. Labor think their priorities are more important than your own. That's the reason they didn't bat an eyelid when they went to the last election proposing $387 billion in extra taxes—money out of the pockets of Australians—and why they were so shocked and surprised when they were rebuffed.

They still don't get it. The member for Throsby recently described 500,000 Australians taking up the option of a second withdrawal of money as 'a run on super' and accused the government of trying to cancel superannuation. What a load of utter nonsense from an opposition that is desperately seeking relevance. People are using this money, drawn out of their super at a time of great financial hardship, to fund their mortgage, to keep their kids in their independent school with their friends, to reduce debt on their own balance sheet—and Labor continue to say that these people are wrong to have that choice. We trust Australians to know better than the politicians in Canberra what their financial priorities are during a one-in-100-year global pandemic. We trust them with their money, with their super. We are on their side.

As the PM said today, Labor, on the other hand, is on the side and on the puppet strings of industry super funds. It just goes to show, once again, that the Australian people knew this at the last election and that is why they chose the coalition government. Labor will always be a higher-taxing government, a high-regulating government that doesn't respect the principle of choice for everyday Australians. We on this side of the House do understand that principle. We do respect Australians making their own decisions when it comes to their own money and we do believe in giving them greater options when it comes to their super. That is not because we are trying to destroy it but because we are trying to make it as strong as possible and as flexible as possible to meet the different needs of all Australians. And that's why we've introduced these important measures.

The bill will allow our older Australians to boost their superannuation savings via voluntary contributions when they are in a position to do so—and, again, it's about providing that flexibility. We'll do this by lifting the cut-off age from 65 to 67, allowing people aged 65 to 67 to make three years worth of non-concessional contributions in a single year. By providing this measure, we are helping older Australians boost their retirement savings when they are in a position to do so. We understand that planning for retirement and that transition phase can be stressful for many senior Australians. By providing greater flexibility we will be able to help allay some of those concerns about the future. Notably, this will also align with the cut-off age of 67 for the bring-forward arrangements for eligibility for the age pension, which is scheduled to reach 67 by 1 July 2023. It is, of course, just one measure in a much broader package outlined in the 2019-20 budget aimed at helping older Australians save for their retirement. The remaining measures are to allow people aged 65 and 66 to make voluntary contributions to superannuation without being required to work a certain number of hours per week and allowing people aged 70 to 74 to receive spouse contributions.

This government has a strong record of supporting our older Australians. We're passionate about it. We are allowing more older Australians to contribute more to their superannuation and recent retirees to make further super contributions. We've cut deeming rates. This means a boost to pension and welfare payments to around one million Australians. We're also helping to boost retirement incomes by expanding the Pension Loans Scheme and we're providing greater choice for older Australians to remain in their homes longer by delivering more home care packages. Finally, most importantly, we've saved older Australians from Labor's reckless retiree tax.

I would like to thank our older Australians for their contribution, particularly to the local electorate of Ryan and to our nation. I will continue, as all of us on this side of the House will, to support them in their retirement. I am very pleased to commend this bill to the House for the flexibility it provides those older Australians.

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