Jess Walsh (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Treasury Laws Amendment (Your Future, Your Super) Bill 2021 and the related bills.

Firstly, let me say how absolutely shameful this government are. This government have once again shown how pathetically desperate they are in attacking super. They're so desperate that they've resorted tonight to secretive deals to rush through their latest round of attacks. Labor will always support improvements to super, but Labor cannot support this bill as it has been put forward by the government today. We cannot support a bill that staples members to underperforming funds. We cannot support a bill that leaves high-risk workers without proper insurance. And we cannot support a bill that gives the government unilateral power to decide what's in the best financial interests of superannuation members.

Labor has a proud record on superannuation. It's the vision and determination of successive Labor governments and unions that have delivered what is now a world-class universal superannuation system. Since then, attacks from the other side have continued in this place—day after day, year after year—because those people opposite, who sit on those benches, do not want Australians to retire with their own funds and to retire in dignity. Those opposite simply cannot be trusted when it comes to superannuation. Only Labor will fight for Australians' superannuation. We will always fight for a dignified retirement for all Australians and we will always fight the attacks on superannuation by those on the other side.

Schedule 1 of this bill introduces a new system for stapling members to a single superannuation account. The first problem with this rushed bill tonight is that the government has set a deadline of 1 July 2021 for this schedule to begin. That's only two weeks away. This is a rushed job, and it's a rushed job that will see workers stapled to underperforming funds. Critically, this deadline must be extended. This deadline must be extended to ensure that performance testing of superannuation funds has begun before any stapling begins. If the stapling mechanism commences before performance testing is underway then, as we all know, individuals will be stapled to failing funds. If this bill comes into effect before this performance test is underway then underperforming funds will be able to keep accepting new members—new members who will also be stapled to these funds, potentially for life.

Treasury has estimated that 21 out of 77 default MySuper funds would fail this test on day one. And those 21 funds cover over three million Australians. So if this bill is passed tonight, in this rushed job that the government has put forward tonight without proper amendments, then from 1 July those three million Australians could be stapled to an underperforming fund. That's three million Australians who could lose thousands of dollars in their retirement savings; three million Australians whose futures would be worse off because of this government's latest attempts to undermine superannuation.

This bill also attacks the basis of insurance in superannuation—the industrial default system. This Senate made really important changes to the 'putting members interests first' bill to create the dangerous occupation exception. This allowed funds with tailor-made insurance cover for workers in hazardous occupations to continue providing default opt-out cover for their members, regardless of their age. That exception has preserved insurance cover for some of Australia's most at-risk workers. Around 2.7 million Australians work in the most high-risk occupations: building and construction workers, miners, agricultural workers, health workers, emergency services workers, truck drivers and delivery workers. These are essential workers—the same essential workers that this government has relied upon to help get us through a global pandemic.

And how does the government show its thanks to these essential workers? By making a dodgy deal to ram through this bill and make the Senate stay up all night to debate it. These workers deserve better. Whether these workers are up on scaffolding, down a mine or working on the front line of a pandemic, death and total and permanent disability insurance is their safety net. It protects workers and their families in the worst possible situations. Too many funds have exclusions in their default insurance packages for high-risk occupations. The stapling mechanism proposed by this government could see these workers stapled to funds that do not include default insurance that is appropriate to their high-risk professions. This government would leave those workers and their families without the safety net that they need.

Building and construction is the third-highest sector for fatalities in the workplace, and each year almost 35,000 workers join the construction workforce. Many start out as young apprentices. But, as of today, only seven funds nationwide offer default opt-out cover to under-25s. One of those funds is Cbus, Construction and Building Unions Superannuation. Cbus member Andrew was 23 years old when he was injured at work, crushed by two glass plates weighing in excess of 1.6 tonnes. Andrew sustained serious spinal and pelvic injuries. He was lucky to have even survived. Andrew was hospitalised for over a month, during which time he watched his wife give birth to their first child while he was in a wheelchair. Thankfully, Andrew and his family today are recovering well. His Cbus insurance made an enormous difference to his health and his quality of life. He says that he cannot imagine what could have happened if he and his family had been left without insurance cover. Had Andrew been stapled to any fund except one of the seven funds that use the dangerous occupation exception, he would not have had any cover. This government's bill would have meant that Andrew and his brand-new family would have been left without any support. This is shameful. What does this government have to say to people like Andrew? What does this government have to say to families like Andrew's, who could have faced incredible financial turmoil, hardship and stress right at the very time they needed support to get better and needed to celebrate the birth of their child?

When Cbus member Shannon was in his early 20s, retirement was the last thing on his mind, but the insurance that he received as part of his superannuation is having a profound effect on his life. Shannon is 30 years old and lives in Albury, on the Victoria-New South Wales border, with his wife, Bianca, and their six-year-old daughter. Shannon previously worked in a brickworks, in a job that he loved. Three years ago, he fell backwards as a result of an anxiety attack and injured his spine. He is now in a wheelchair. Shannon says that, without the insurance that he received from his total and permanent disability claim as part of the insurance on his Cbus policy, he and his family would have lost everything. Even though he wasn't injured at work, his Cbus policy covered him, but insurance policies provided by many other superannuation funds would not have. If Shannon had been stapled to another fund, as this bill seeks to do to so many workers, his family would have lost everything.

That is what this government will do to Australia's most high-risk workers. They are risking the futures of Australian workers and families who face losing everything if they get injured and are left without proper insurance. But this government, as we know, has no regard for Australian workers, especially those in high-risk occupations—our construction workers, truck drivers, emergency services workers and health workers. They all deserve so much better.

This government is not satisfied just with undermining the future savings and safety nets of Australian workers. They've decided that this bill needs to go further. They've decided to try to give themselves unilateral powers to decide what superannuation funds can spend their money on. They've given themselves the extraordinary power to determine what is or isn't in the best financial interests of members. The government are not interested in protecting the best financial interests of superannuation members, because when it comes to superannuation they have never acted in the best financial interests of Australian workers. The only financial interest the government know how to protect is that of themselves and their mates. We have seen similar powers used in the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility to block investment in renewable energy jobs in North Queensland. Whose best financial interests was the government protecting then? Whose best financial interests were this government trying to protect when they used their powers to block investments in creating jobs? The only financial interests the government know how to protect are their own. Questions remain about the way this bill allows the Treasury to reach into the democratically elected boardrooms of superannuation funds to block investments that he might disagree with. Questions remain about the way in which the application of the best financial interests test in this bill as it currently stands could actually undermine members' interests.

Superannuation is a Labor legacy, and Labor will always protect superannuation. Labor will always support the future of Australians. That's why Labor will move amendments to this bill that provide simple fixes to the serious concerns that we have—fixes that should be supported in this chamber. Labor will always be here to protect and improve superannuation, but we won't support the bill if these issues are not fixed and our serious concerns are not addressed.

Under this government, wages have been stagnant for a long time. Under this government, super has been frozen for a long time. Under this government, Australians have faced attack after attack on their super. This time, what they face is a future where they are stapled to underperforming funds that provide them and their family with no insurance, no protection and no safety net against the worst-case scenario. So there are two things that Australians can always be sure of. The first is that the Liberal and National parties will always find new ways to undermine superannuation, and the second is that Labor will always be here to stop them.

The Senate transcript was published up to 22:02. The remainder of the transcript will be published progressively as it is completed.