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

I take the interjections. Here we go: the vested interest. They're defending the crooked super scheme. It's all crooked.

Opposition senators interjecting—

I take the interjections. Once again, Labor will do anything for big super. You will do anything to defend super. Keep going—you're making my point for me. It's the party of vested interest. This is fantastic.

Opposition senators interjecting—

Keep going. We'll look forward to clipping that loop later. I take the interjections. The point is that 30 years ago Paul Keating gave the keys to the city to the financial institutions and to the unions, and they have run this industry for themselves and not for the workers. The returns are poor relative to other options. One of the things we should be pursuing over the next little while is the Future Fund as an option for default super. It has outperformed all the average super funds and it's something I think could work very well.

The Labor Party want to bind people up in red tape and in opaque structures because they don't want people to run their own affairs. You believe in paternalism. You want to separate people from the money. You want the donations that flow through to the unions into your political party. It's all about money. What I'm interested in is pursuing policies which enable people to get control of their own affairs. We should be looking at ways to make the system work better because it's not working in the interests of people. Who could imagine that we would have a policy that is designed to reduce the costs of an ageing population that costs the taxpayer more than it saves? It doesn't work. It doesn't get people off the pension. All it does is line the coffers of the unions and the Labor Party, and they will defend that to the hilt. The Labor Party would rather save super than save Australia. That's why they're opposed to early release. They're opposed to any measure that is designed to improve the system for workers. You're not here for workers; you're here for yourselves. You're the party of vested interests. You should be ashamed of yourselves. We should pursue these reforms because they would improve outcomes for workers, and they're who we are here to serve.