Stephen Jones (Whitlam, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I love Woolies. The member for Fadden asked me what I've got against Woolies. Absolutely nothing. But I'm not—

Well, if he would be quiet for just a moment, he might understand why he has just misled the House. And thickness makes a lot of noise, in the case of the member for Fadden.

Let me explain it to you. If someone is a member of one of these religions that prohibits them participating in gambling, why should we be saying to them: 'We are going to deregister your fund unless it performs in accordance with an index which assumes you invest in a gambling business, or you invest in a banking business or invest in one of these businesses which is specifically operating against the religious precepts of that community'? Now, I don't happen to hold those views; I don't happen to find those activities offensive. But I do understand that there are many members who represent communities where they do hold those principles, and they want to ensure that their life savings, their superannuation savings, are invested in accordance with those principles. I've mentioned the example of gambling. I've mentioned the example of banking. There are others.

What the member for Fadden has done is specifically mislead the House. Let me explain to the House—and the member for Fadden, who clearly doesn't understand it—how the new test will work. A faith based fund will be measured in accordance with every other fund in the country, and they can't just stick their hand up halfway through the process and say, 'By the way, we're a faith based fund.' They have to have declared, in their investment mandate, way before the measurement period, that that is indeed what they are and they are investing their money in accordance with a religious principle. If they are run through the annual performance test and they fail it, APRA will then run a second test, which will ask a very simple question: but for this fund investing its money in accordance with those religious principles— (Time expired)

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