Sam Dastyari (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I believe they are selling tickets for it upstairs. It's going to be massive; that's all I can say—huge!

I think it's important for us to spend a little time having a closer examination of the real intention of legislation such as this. It is unfortunate that, at the heart of so many of the decisions that get made, or the arguments that get pushed, by the government, there is an ideological agenda. I think that these bills, unfortunately, are not devoid of ideology, when really we should be having a debate about a fairly practical piece of legislation around superannuation laws, around strengthening trustee arrangements. What we have here is legislation that does nothing more, in the opinion of many Labor and crossbench senators, than push forward a strong ideological agenda.

The government, unfortunately, come from a political stream of thought that means they have never really been fans of superannuation. The idea of superannuation is something that the government and the conservative side of politics have consistently opposed in one form or another. Towards the end of the Keating government, there was a proposal to increase superannuation. Over time, this was something that they opposed. The notion that there is going to be a savings base for the nation that is built by workers, protected by workers and controlled by workers is something that, unfortunately, those at their end of town have always argued against. There is a simple proposition at the heart of this. Do you vote to keep money in the pockets of mums and dads saving for their retirement, or do you pursue an agenda that is about increasing and lining the pockets of some of Australia's wealthiest, most successful bankers? That is what the debate here is going to be about—and, in 10 seconds, that's just a snippet.