Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Labor will not be supporting the disallowance for reasons similar to those that the Leader of the Government in the Senate has outlined. We understand the provisions of this instrument are purely for the purposes of facilitating information sharing. Specifically, the instrument requires the trustee to provide eligible persons with information about their superannuation interests upon request. It is this default information which will allow the Family Court to make a just and equitable decision on the splitting of assets. The issues raised with Labor regarding the valuation of superannuation do not go to this instrument, nor does this instrument have the ability to alter the valuation of invalidity pension interests. The characterisation of military super interests as either an accumulation interest or a defined benefit interest has no impact on how the interest is valued or split. The issues raised around the valuation of the invalidity pension, whether it is a defined benefit interest or an accumulation interest, are not represented in the 2016 determination, and, rather, this is a policy argument for the government.

The impact of the 2016 determination is simply to confirm the type of information that a trustee must provide for the purposes of the valuation of military super, not how the valuation is calculated or split. We are certainly willing to have a conversation about the broader policy issue that has been raised as a consequence of this instrument; however, we do not believe this is best dealt with through this instrument.