Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. Given that it is more than four months since the budget, can the Treasurer confirm that the nonconcessional contribution cap for superannuation will continue to have a $500,000 limit and a 2007 start date?

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for her question. What the government introduced in the budget was a plan to make superannuation fairer, to make it more flexible and to make it sustainable. That is what we introduced. The measures that we introduced in the budget will improve the budget repair task by some $3 billion, so we continue to pursue those measures because those measures are essential. It is not just the equity of the system as it stands but also the intergenerational equity as we have a growing and ageing population and a growing set of balances in the superannuation system which attract very high concessional rates of taxation. There are very, very big concessions on those taxation rates. We need to ensure that that system is sustainable both now and into the future.

This parallels what this government has also done over the last few years on dealing with retirement incomes in the area of pensions. I note those opposite railed against the pension assets test changes for years. They even ran campaigns against it, getting signatures and doing all those sorts of things, and they had to reverse their position by the time they got to the election. They sought to play the Australian people for mugs. We are pursuing our superannuation changes, and they will be coming into this House. They will be delivering on the savings, they will be delivering on the equity, they will be delivering on the flexibility and they will be delivering on the fairness. They will deliver on the job that we outlined in the budget.

Mr Dreyfus interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Isaacs will cease interjecting. I have asked him a number of times, even before question time, to cease interjecting. He is now on the same track as the member for Moreton. I am giving fair warning.