Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Vice-President of the Executive Council) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you very much, Mr President. In response to the substantive question at the end of the Senate's question, I said that the government would continue to consider all options to help boost women's super. But I am also pointing out our very strong track record, including our measure to enable catch-up concessional contributions, which will benefit 230,000 Australian, including those women with interrupted work patterns or irregular income, such as farmers and carers.

Of course, what Labor will do is increase taxes on superannuation, abolish the flexibility afforded by the government's catch-up contributions and keep restrictions on who can make personal deductible contributions. This will hurt the retirement savings of anyone with irregular income or work patterns, including mothers and carers who have taken time out of the workforce.

The government has introduced the comprehensive Protecting Your Super Package, which will stop the rorts and rip-offs in the superannuation sector, providing significant benefits to the financial security of millions of Australian women. Around two million women who hold low-balance inactive accounts will be protected from erosion through excessive fees and inappropriate insurance. Around 1.6 million women who are still contributing to low-balance accounts will also see hundreds of millions of dollars— (Time expired)