Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration) Share this | Hansard source

I will take that interjection: it is basically theft; that is exactly right. This was also canvassed in the joint committee inquiry that looked into the bill, albeit on a very, very limited basis. The FFC's submission to the corporations and financial services committee inquiry made a strong argument that the government had clearly got it wrong—and not only that. The government initiated the Cooper review and even the Cooper review said, 'Good grief, you can't actually do this; you've gone way too far.' This is what the FFC submission said: 'Through the Cooper review and the Stronger Super Paul Costello consultation in 2011, it was not contemplated at anytime that choice superannuation funds would be subject to default MySuper transitional arrangements'—not 'was contemplated' but 'not contemplated'. But that does not stop the Australian Labor Party. The mere fact that a review has given certain recommendations does not stop the Australian Labor Party from doing the exact opposite of what the review has stated.

I stood up in this place only yesterday in relation to amendments to the Fair Work Act, where again the Australian Labor Party spent $1 million of taxpayers' money putting together a review—they handpicked their own panel and cherry pick their mates to sit on the panel to provide recommendations to them as to how they might improve the Fair Work Act. And yet, when push came to shove, where were the recommendations when the legislation came before the Senate yesterday? Oh, conveniently they just were not there because the Labor Party did not like what the review panel had come back with. It is the same with this. The Labor Party did not like what a review came back with, so they decided to do something entirely different.

One of the other interesting parts of this bill, had Senator Cormann not actually negotiated amendments with Minister Shorten, was this: the bill had potential implications for insurance within superannuation. Many Australians take out all types of insurance, but they do so on the basis of their own personal circumstances. This is what this legislation, had it not been amended by Senator Cormann, would have done: the MySuper death and total and permanent disability cover is likely to be less. This is coming from the party that talks about the better off overall test, remember. 'No Australian can ever be worse off.' But this is exactly what this legislation was going to do in relation to insurance. The cover is likely to be less than that currently enjoyed by a member of a choice default fund. Some people who have been covered within their chosen fund for a long time may not be able to qualify for life insurance—and, remember, the government is doing this to you without actually asking if they can do it to you—or they will only be able to qualify on inferior terms given the changes in their personal circumstances since the original cover was taken out in their existing fund.

Again, the Labor Party was trying to force upon on individual what they wanted the individual to have, regardless of the fact that the individual had exercised a personal choice. But, worse than that, they were doing it by pushing a piece of legislation through the parliament which stated that they would then be able to do that without seeking the individual's prior consent. It was rushed through a committee. Despite the fact that the bill was rushed through a committee, Senator Cormann has been talking to the industry now for over two years. If you can say one thing about Senator Cormann it is that he knows more about superannuation now than do most people in Australia and he certainly knows more about superannuation than does Minister Shorten. Senator Cormann was the one who identified the very serious faults in this bill. Do you know why we know they are serious? It is exactly as Senator MacDonald said. You have got a report that comes out that says the bill is fantastic. The Labor senators, given their instructions by Minister Shorten, say, 'No worries, the bill is fantastic.' The Greens obviously just fall into line; there is no two ways about that; they probably did not read the bill. But that is fine; they also say the bill looks good. But Senator Cormann and the coalition members of the committee put in a dissenting report highlighting certain issues.

It may have ended there, but yesterday you could almost be assured that the Labor Party were told there were serious problems with its bill and they had better go to Senator Cormann and work out a way they can accept this amendment and change this bill. One of the serious flaws of the bill was that it was potentially going to break existing contractual arrangements and face potential legal challenges for breaching section 51(xxxi) of the Constitution. Well done to the Australian Labor Party! They were introducing a bill that may well have seen a legal challenge because it breached the Constitution. But the good news for the Australian people is that Minister Shorten has accepted Senator Cormann's amendments—