Kylea Tink (North Sydney, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of the amendments moved by the member for Wentworth, and I want to thank her and her team for doing the work to try to find a way through what is a truly concerning, unprecedented move by this government. To be clear, I believe that the intent of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Better Targeted Superannuation Concessions and Other Measures) Bill 2023 warrants investigation. But to see the taxation of unrealised gains included in this legislation should send a shiver down the spine of not only every Australian but potentially every global citizen, because this is globally unprecedented. Nowhere else in the world do they tax unrealised gains.

What are the implications of this? It means, particularly for people in the rural sector and the small-business sector, that if they own assets that are fluctuating within their superannuation balance and one year the value of those assets goes up then, even though that will not will be in true cash terms, this government will have the right to approach those people and have them pay cash to the ATO, and the ATO doesn't take an IOU note.

In the subsequent year—let's say it's a farm, and you hit drought and your land price drops, and you fall back under the $3 million mark—you don't get a rebate from the government for the money you paid the previous year. But you have lost cash somewhere. So, from the minute this legislation was tabled, this really egregious change in taxation policy in this country was flagged with alarm by many key stakeholders. I have had lots of conversations with the member for Wentworth, the assistant minister, and other members of the crossbench who have tried to appeal to the government to please drop this unprecedented reform. Yet—it's extraordinary—the government hasn't been prepared to negotiate in this space and to recognise not only the potentially immediate damage to our superannuation system but also the potential damage to Australians' confidence, when they hold assets, that the government isn't going to adopt this as a standard practice across everything we hold.

People have asked me, 'If this is now included in super, what does that mean for my home in the future?' So, I would say to the minister, I think the member for Wentworth and her team have done an excellent job in providing you with a way to frame this and to give Australians greater certainty. While I would prefer to see this measure completely removed, this is what's being offered, in the interest of compromise, and I commend it to the minister and his team. I'll be interested to see why the minister says the government won't take it up.

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