Tim Wilson (Goldstein, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

That is what is at the heart of this legislation. That is why they will fight it at every step of the way. We will not stop until we call it out and we stop the misinformation, the misallocation and the misuse of Australians' superannuation money. What we hear from the shadow minister for superannuation in this debate is the most hysterical and ridiculous allegations about the provisions in the bill which say the Treasurer can override the waste and mismanagement of Australians' superannuation funds towards activities that have nothing to do with retirement savings—absolutely nothing. That is what is happening right now, with the waste that is going towards TheNew Dailyso they can buy the interest of journalists who then go on to taxpayer funded organisations to misrepresent the interests and the issues that affect retiring Australians. There is no integrity at the heart of this system. There is no integrity in their focus on trying to buy off Australians through the system that they have designed.

Listen to the hypocrisy in this chamber from the Labor Party. They claim they're against the illegal payment provisions in this bill. But dare to suggest, 'Okay, let's remove the provision that's already in superannuation legislation which says it's illegal to use your own money'—your own money—'to buy your own home,' and they say that must stay in the law at all costs. That is how hypocritical they are. If you genuinely believe that there should be no limitations on how members' money should be able to be spent by super funds, then allow Australians to use their superannuation money to buy their own home. You know, as I know, that the foundation of financial security in people's working life, and retirement, is home first, super second. But they do not want that, because they know it means empowering Australians and their families to take control of their financial interests for their own lives. That is why we believe in it so strongly, and we will not stop fighting.

These laws go to the heart of what we stand for and who we want to empower. The debate around superannuation is not just one about retirement incomes and savings, as critical as they may be. It is a debate about power and who we want to empower. Do we want to empower fund managers or families? It's fund managers on the opposition side and families on the Liberal side. That is who we are. That is what we stand for. When Australians look at their finances, they should be able to make a choice. They should be able to choose how they spend their money and prioritise their financial interests.

Let's look at the hard data. In 1992, there was about $280 billion in retirement savings in Australia. Since then, it has increased by a factor of 1,400. Just in case there is any ambiguity about that, that's 1,400 times. And what has been the decline in dependence on the pension over that same time frame? Is it 1,400? No. Is it 1,300? No. Is it 1,200? No. Is it 1,000? No. Is it 100 per cent? No. Is it eight per cent? No. The answer, according to the Callaghan report, is that it has gone from 67 per cent of Australian retirees needing support from the pension to 65 per cent. Have you ever seen such a massive accumulation of wealth in the hands and control of a few fund managers, at the expense of Australian families, for so little gain? No, but the Labor Party likes it that way. They know that, through it, they can control and bring organised capital and organised labour together to decide the future of this country, bypassing this parliament. They use that capital to buy ownership of companies and they then impose on them their own values, bypassing this very chamber, elected by the people of Australia. They know that, under the fund management system, no-one's elected; they're just appointed by their mates. And they threaten and bully any business in this country who dares stand up to them, like they threaten and bully and want to intimidate this chamber. That is why we won't give up. This isn't just a debate about retirement savings, though it is that; it's a debate about power in our country and where it rests—with the people, with families, with elected representatives, or simply in the hands of a few fund managers. That's why they like it that way and that's why they hate this legislation so much. They see it as a break on their control. It empowers Australians instead.

We have to keep fighting. That has always been at the heart of the structure of the Labor Party. They want a corporate estate—big capital, big unions, big government, working together at your expense, where the people of Australia have no control over their own lives. They want Australians to be serfs to their own superannuation funds.

Let's look at the facts. They argue that Australians shouldn't be able to use their superannuation to buy their own homes and get on the first rung on the ladder to provide the foundations for retirement security as well as their working life. Yet let's see their criticism when Cbus spends $800 million of your Australian money to buy properties that it owns and that it will rent to you. This is a corrupt system that needs to be called out. They will use your money, the people of Australia's money, to buy homes that they own and that they'll rent back to you. But if you dare stand up and say, 'I want to use my super to buy my own home,' they'll say, 'Destroying the system.' This system is designed to favour the few at the expense of the many. They only have to take small clips along the way. When you've got 26 million people legally compelled to contribute money into an account, they only have to take $5 or $10 a year, laundered through the unions and marketing expenses and heading back to the Labor Party, to take a massive share of the wealth of the nation that they control.

That is what happens every day, and if you try to breathe any accountability into this system, they fight it every step of the way. They ought to be ashamed of themselves. Go and look at the House Economics Committee. In this term of parliament, we've continually asked superannuation funds about their expenditure. What do unions do and what do the industry funds do? They refuse to answer. They launder their money through IFM investors to fund their super funds. As soon as it goes in, they say, 'We're not accountable to the parliament of the people of Australia anymore.' How can you stand by this system and the corruption and the misuse of—

Mr Gosling interjecting—

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