Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

One of the tragedies of being in this place for nearly 20 years is the fact that my involvement in the superannuation sector takes me back to 1992, when I was a superannuation officer for the transport workers superannuation fund. I have been at the coalface and I have actually competed with so-called 'independent' funds, so I have dealt with ASFA both as an employee and for six or seven years when I was shadow financial services minister. I know ASFA well and I know the superannuation group sitting in the lobby well. The problem with ASFA is it no longer represents anything other than bank funds. There is been such a consolidation of superannuation funds around this country that ASFA is essentially nothing more than a mouthpiece for banks and their superannuation funds.

Let me take you back to 1998. The then head of the National Farmers' Federation wrote a full page in what was then a magazine called The Bulletin, an influential magazine, and it talked about the rising power of industry funds. They always call them 'union funds' to be pejorative. It said, 'We will be looking forward to checking the returns of the Electoral Commission to see how much money these union superannuation funds are going to give to the federal ALP in their election campaign, because they are just the puppets.' This was an article written by a bloke called Andrew Robb, then the head of the National Farmers' Federation. If you want to talk about ideology, those opposite—who now propose to caringly reform the most successful innovation of the Hawke-Keating government period, spreading superannuation to every Australian—voted against, every single time, every single increase that has been mandated for ordinary workers. Those opposite have voted against every single one, and every single time the banks have cried poor because the industry funds outperform them and have lower costs.

I was a superannuation officer. My job was to walk around at 5 o'clock in the morning at truck yards, stand on the dock and explain to them why they should be in a super fund. Do you know how much the average three per cent was back in 1992? It was about $10 a week. I had to convince people not only that this was a worthwhile thing for them to be in but also that they should put more into their superannuation because it was good for them. So I stood there at the coalface. Do you know what the bank funds used to do? Do you know what the other funds used to be doing? They were offering deals to employers to try to get the employer to sign up to one of their funds and they could give them a better deal for the employer. A lot of responsible employers around this country rejected these sorts of approaches and have participated magnificently while they have been on the 50 per cent representation, while they have been on these boards. And they have done a great job.

Let me be clear. They are not actually a stakeholder; this is the members' money. They are not elected by the members; they are the bosses of the members who have worked and recognised the importance of giving financial security to their members, to their employees, over many, many years. This is a structure that has stood the test of time, but it is a structure that terrifies the life out of the big banks because the big banks have, for years, paid commissions. Senator Muir, you have sat through some horrific stories about the behaviour of some of the banks and some of the financial advisers. I did not get paid a cent as a trailing commission. I got paid an annual salary. I got not one cent if I was successful in convincing someone to join the fund. Not one cent. I stood there and had to talk to people and convince them that it was about their future, about their kids' security in the future, and I did not get a cent for it. I am proud of that. But ASFA represents the trailing commission group, the bank group. Banks are being dragged slowly—because of all the exposure that you yourself have done, Senator Muir, and others have done in this chamber, in exposing the rorts and the trailing commissions. But it is still deeply embedded in their culture.

I have gone to meetings, as shadow minister, of the Financial Planning Association, and I have stood there and said, 'It is time to professionalise your sector. It is time to start moving away from commissions.' I have been shouted at, screamed at and howled down. The first question I was asked, when I finished my speech and a person strolled up to me, was, 'Now you've demonstrated you know nothing about the financial services industry, I want to ask you the following.' That was the first question I got back in the late nineties and early 2000s when I looked after this portfolio area. We had a superannuation committee that was the longest-running statutory committee of this parliament. Nick Sherry was in charge of it and we were on it for many years together.

Then you want to count Jeremy Cooper. Let me give you a very succinct view of Jeremy Cooper: he is the village idiot. I do not think I have met a dumber human being that has ever been appointed to the ASIC board. He is arrogant and uninformed. I take zero notice of his recommendations, and the previous government took almost no notice of his recommendations, for good reason. His logic was flawed, his arguments were weak. For those who would point to Jeremy Cooper as an icon in this area: he has no experience whatsoever in superannuation. He was an accountant.