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

Absolutely! Thank you for your admonishment, Senator Bushby, I accept it. If there are people sitting outside these walls right now, Senator Muir, who told you, 'No, it's okay. This is okay,' they are not representing the workers in this super fund. They are not representing the Transport Workers' Union members when they whisper in your ear it is okay to vote for this. They are not representing them, because I can tell you that transport workers are bloody happy with the returns and the performance of their fund and the cost base of their fund. They were very happy that I was not getting a trailing commission when I convinced them to put more money in—which, back then, was pretty hard, I can tell you. Five o'clock in the morning in a garbage truck depot is not a great time to convince people to put another 10 bucks into the super fund, let me promise you that.

I was not immensely successful, but my financial remuneration did not depend on it. So I did not have to fib to them. I did not have to con them. But if you start voting truck drivers off boards, then I say that I cannot believe you would do that, Senator Muir. With your background, your genuine concern in this area, your understanding of ordinary working people in this country, I cannot believe you would fall for the spivs from the big end of town—just like they told you they would be kidnapped, and we have seen through that. I congratulate you and I acknowledge that. You saw through that, and this is another one. This is nothing more than putting some suits on and taking some representatives of working people off these funds—truck drivers, metalworkers, timber workers. These are people you know, people you spend every day of your life with and people I know you care about.

You are saying they are not good enough to be on these boards. I absolutely find that offensive. I am used to them. I get them. I cannot believe you would fall for it. I genuinely cannot believe, Senator Muir, you will move an amendment to vote transport workers, truck drivers, airport workers and timber workers off these boards simply to appease the big end of town. I repeat what I said at the beginning of this contribution: ASFA do not represent the truck drivers in the fund that I am a member of. They absolutely do not. They once represented an incredible mix of funds, but if you look at who ASFA's members are now it is the big end of town calling the shots. I have dealt with them for 20 years—I love them—from when Sue Ryan, a former Labor minister, was in charge of ASFA right through 20 years of this history.

So I ask you to think carefully. I know you do genuinely listen to the debate in the chamber. I know you do genuinely listen to the concerns that are raised with you. But, genuinely and seriously, you are going to vote working people off the boards if you put this amendment up that you are talking about doing. I hope we get a chance to continue the conversation. You have said you want to. I appreciate that. But, please, I ask you: understand what it is really about. The Liberal Party and the business community and the banks, particularly, hate industry funds because they challenge the business models of those institutions. They are challenging them successfully. They are challenging them with better products, with cheaper prices and better returns for their members. So they will do anything; they will make up any argument. I am surprised not to hear that there are going to be kidnappings of superannuation fund officials if this does not happen! That will be the next thing they will try, Senator Muir, but I know you will not fall for that one.

I hope this bill gets defeated on the second reading, because it should be sent off to where it belongs—back into the bottom drawer of the big end of town and the banks, who want nothing more than to begin the destruction of industry funds. Do not fall for ASFA's line. I know ASFA intimately. They are now controlled by the big end of town and the big banks, who are the big funds in ASFA. They provide all the funds, they drive all the policy and you should not draw solely on them as your inspiration. I am not saying you are, but I am saying you should not draw on them. You equally should not necessarily draw on some of the people who are pretending they are out there representing the funds. You should be talking with actual elected representatives of the people whose money is in the funds. When you elect your union leadership, you then knowingly elect the directors of your fund. They are elected by their members to be on these funds. That is how the system works. I have sitting with me a former member of his superannuation fund, Senator Bullock. He was elected as a union official and, through that, onto the fund board. The members elect them, and you want to take away that right.