Stuart Henry (Hasluck, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Treasurer. What progress is being made on the introduction of the new simplified and streamlined superannuation system? What threats are there to its introduction?

Peter Costello (Higgins, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for Hasluck for his question and for his support of what are certainly the largest superannuation changes in 20 years. I can inform him that great progress is being made. The consultation period has now finished and the government proposes to introduce legislation later this year so that the scheme is up and running on 1 July 2007. Under the changes to superannuation, when you are over 60 and you take your money out of a taxed superannuation fund there will be no tax on a lump sum, there will be no tax on a pension, the different age based contribution limits will be abolished and the post-tax contributions will also be simplified so that people have an incentive to put superannuation contributions into their fund over the whole course of their lifetime. We get rid of complicated tax, we get rid of RBLs, we get rid of age differentials and we really make superannuation the preferred form of saving in Australia.

I regret to say that as of now the opposition still does not have a policy on superannuation. This policy was announced five months ago. We have been consulting with the industry and we have been having very productive discussions, but we have not heard a peep out of the opposition as to whether or not it will support these far-reaching changes. If we are going to encourage people to have confidence in superannuation, it is very important that this have bipartisan support. This needs bipartisan support so that people can have confidence that the money they put into superannuation in their 20s and their 30s and their 40s is going to be there after their 60s so that they can draw down on it. I am beginning to see a pattern as to why the opposition will not commit to supporting these superannuation changes—

Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Treasury) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Ms King interjecting

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Ballarat is warned!

Peter Costello (Higgins, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A very ominous sign in the Weekend Australian on 30 September 2006 was the headline ‘Changes to super will go: Keating’. The article read:

Former Prime Minister Paul Keating has warned superannuation tax changes may have to be cut back by future governments …

What possible future governments could he be talking about there? None other than Labor, which will not go on the record as supporting these changes—and the reason they will not go on the record to support these changes is that the Leader of the Opposition wants the right to take away the tax concessions and grab people’s money in future years. He does not want to go on the record. Mr Keating, his economic muse—

Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Childcare) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Ms Plibersek interjecting

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Sydney is warned!

Peter Costello (Higgins, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The economic muse of the Leader of the Opposition, Paul Keating, has belled the cat. He wants these tax changes to go, he wants the Labor Party to have the freedom to take them, the Labor Party will not go on the record and, as a consequence, superannuation will not have the confidence that it deserves. I call on the Labor Party, I call on the Leader of the Opposition and I call on the shadow Treasurer to come out, back the changes and commit themselves to them for the long term so that in the future young Australians can have confidence in this preferred form of saving over the long term.