Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Trade) Share this | Hansard source

Once again, it's important to put some context around those figures. Australian superannuation funds, according to APRA, held over $2.7 trillion in assets at 30 June 2018, so the scale of overseas investment is small relative to the total scale of assets held by those Australian funds. I would highlight that they do invest in Australian infrastructure. For instance, Transurban took a major piece of the WestConnex consortium last week, alongside those from Canada and elsewhere, and in recent years AustralianSuper and IFM bought control of Ausgrid.

But when speaking about superannuation investments let's also, importantly, understand that the prime expectation and responsibility of those vested with our superannuation savings is to ensure that they get the best return for those whose Australian savings they are and that the individuals directing those funds must ensure that, as custodians of the savings and earnings of Australians who have worked hard for them, they get the best possible returns on those savings. (Time expired)