Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

We absolutely do. Sadly, Senator Bullock obviously did not listen to what I had to say in the chamber during the debate, because what the Senate did today was not an adverse change to superannuation, at all. What I would advise Senator Bullock to do is to read very carefully the statements that were made by the now Leader of the Opposition Mr Shorten, when he was the Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation. The point that Mr Shorten made then, and that I agree with today, is that increases in compulsory superannuation come out of people's wages. The Senate has voted today to ensure that we allow people to keep more of their own wages today so that they can decide how to deploy those wages. Guess what? People are free to decide whether they want to invest that money in paying off their mortgage faster or invest that money by saving it in superannuation, attracting the concessional tax treatment up to the concessional contribution limit. What the Senate did today was empower workers across the country to make their own decisions.

We absolutely stand by the commitment we made in the lead-up to the election not to make any unexpected adverse changes to superannuation. The change the Senate has passed today is a good change for working families across Australia. It will help them pay off their mortgages faster. It will help them with their cost-of-living pressures today. It will help them put more money into superannuation voluntarily in the form of tax advantageous savings, if they so choose. But, importantly, what we did today is help build a stronger, more prosperous economy which will help to create more opportunities for more Australians to work, get better wages and get better superannuation. Over time, we will still get to the 12 per cent, as previously legislated.