Andrew Bragg (NSW, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It's always good to come back into the Senate and hear Labor senators run the lines that have been written for them by the industry super movement. One of the problems with the superannuation industry is that it is the most entitled industry in Australia—and who's to blame them? What other sector is getting 10 per cent, or thereabouts, of people's salaries and wages for these, effectively, two large sectors to have a culture war against one other constantly? Every single time there is a bill to do with financial sector regulation or superannuation we hear Labor senators run the same old tired lines—all the navel-gazing from the industry super funds, most usually.

Labor hates small business. They always have. You heard that from Senator Sheldon's contribution. Labor hates small business. If they took a minute to remove themselves from their attachment to the union sector, they would know that superannuation is actually a very complicated business for a small-business owner to comply with. One of the hardest things a small business has to do is pay its staff and also pay their superannuation. If you listen to the council of small business CEO, Peter Strong, he thinks superannuation compliance costs small business about a billion dollars each year. It is very, very, very complicated.

But when you spend all your time talking to union officials in the Qantas Club and elsewhere, you wouldn't have a clue about what small-business people actually think and are concerned about, and that's true. The amnesty is the only chance that people have for actually being reunited with their super that hasn't been paid. There you have the Labor Party arguing against people having more super—go figure! This measure does not let employers off the hook; in fact it increases penalties where they haven't complied with their super guarantee obligations, which, I repeat, are very complicated. It is very complicated, if you are running a small business, to comply with these complex obligations that are imposed on small businesses by this parliament.

Of course, running through these points does not reflect the real truth here, which is that Labor is not interested in the policy discussion. They oppose every single superannuation change we put forward. Their own superannuation changes, like the retiree tax, all come from the same source: the industry super movement. This is all about politics. Labor just does the bidding of the unions day in, day out on every single measure.

The financial links between industry super funds and the unions are well known. Tens of millions of dollars disappear from people's industry super funds into the coffers of the unions. In the case of Senator Sheldon, who gave the previous presentation, the TWU super fund has paid $9 million of workers' money from the super fund into the union in recent years. What's this money for? Who knows? We'll never know, because it's not transparently disclosed to members. It should be. But what it does indicate is the very, very close-knit arrangement between the super funds, the unions and the Labor members of parliament, who come into this place every single day and run the tired old lines.

Who would believe that the Labor Party would come into the Senate and argue against more superannuation for people who missed out on their superannuation ostensibly because it's a very complicated system and small businesses are worried about running their businesses, not worried about their complicated obligations, which are confusing? They're now going to be easier because of Single Touch Payroll and a range of other reforms, but there you have it: the Labor Party doesn't want workers to have their super, which is extraordinary. The only reason, I suspect, is that they just run the tired old lines that are written for them by the industry super funds.

I dare say all the Labor contributions on the bill this evening will be characterised by lots of paper. People will need to read their talking points because they don't actually know the arguments as to why they're against an amnesty that is designed to reunite people with super they wouldn't otherwise get. There is no other way that these workers will get their super back. This is the only chance. So voting against it and arguing against it is arguing against the workers that people on the other side of the chamber purport to represent, which is just extraordinary. The only reason they're against the amnesty is politics. We put forward the idea after it had been raised by the small-business sector. Labor hate small business and love the industry super funds, and they're doing what they've been asked again. It's very sad.