Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I table revised explanatory memoranda relating to the bills and I move:

  That these bills be now read a second time.

I seek leave to have the second reading speeches incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The speeches read as follows—

ELECTORAL AND REFERENDUM AMENDMENT (PROTECTING ELECTOR PARTICIPATION) BILL 2012

It is just over 100 years since the Australian Parliament voted to introduce a scheme of compulsory enrolment. Since the scheme commenced in 1912, it has served Australia well.

As late as 2001, the Australian National Audit Office commented that the electoral Roll was likely to be 95 per cent complete.

Things have changed. The Australian Electoral Commission now estimates that only 90 per cent of eligible Australian citizens are actually enrolled to vote.

That is one and a half million Australian citizens who cannot choose their representatives in Parliament. One and a half million Australians who cannot have their say when proposals to change Australia's constitution are put to the people. That is one and a half million Australians excluded from exercising one of the most important rights - and responsibilities - of their citizenship.

This Bill will protect the participation of eligible Australian citizens in the electoral process by establishing a safety net for enrolment and voting.

It is just that – a safety net. The Bill will not change the grounds on which a person becomes entitled to enrol and vote. This amendment will not affect the integrity of the electoral Roll.

The Bill will protect elector participation in two key ways.

Firstly, the Bill will ensure the accuracy and completeness of the Roll by allowing the Electoral Commissioner to directly enrol a person if the Electoral Commissioner is satisfied that the person is:

If the Electoral Commissioner is satisfied that a person meets these criteria, the Bill allows the Electoral Commissioner to give the person notice in writing that the Electoral Commissioner proposes to enter that person's name and address on the electoral Roll.

This notice will advise the recipient that they have 28 days to inform the Electoral Commissioner that they do not live at that address or are not entitled to enrolment.

The Bill provides the opportunity for a person to seek a review of a decision, including by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

It is expected that the Electoral Commissioner will use data from sources external to the Electoral Commission to identify people who are entitled to be on the electoral Roll, but are not. This is similar to the successful processes currently used in New South Wales and Victoria.

Information from reliable sources is already used by the Electoral Commission to monitor the accuracy of the Roll and to remove a person from the Roll through objection action. The Electoral Act does not currently permit the Electoral Commission to use this information to enrol a person.

Rather than use the information to object a person off the electoral Roll, it is expected that the Electoral Commission will analyse the most reliable and current data available to facilitate a person's enrolment.

It is not an automatic process. Every potential elector will be given an opportunity to dispute the information before any action occurs.

In its report on the March 2011 election, the New South Wales Electoral Commission advised that their SmartRoll process had a 93 per cent success rate for all enrolment transaction types. There is no reason to think that a similar high success rate could not be replicated at the Federal level for new enrolments.

The second way in which the Bill will protect elector participation is by ensuring that certain people who have been removed from the electoral Roll by objection action will have their votes admitted to further scrutiny.

This will take place after the Electoral Commission has verified the elector's entitlement to enrolment and voting.

The existing law provides that where electors have been removed from the electoral Roll due to an administrative error or mistake of fact, their votes can be admitted to further scrutiny after the Electoral Commission has verified the elector's enrolment and voting entitlement.

However, being removed from the Roll through objection action does not currently constitute an administrative error or mistake of fact.

The Bill removes this limitation to ensure that an administrative error or mistake of fact does not hinder an otherwise eligible elector from exercising their right to vote at an election.

The Bill further provides that the Electoral Commissioner may enrol a person who casts a declaration vote if they meet certain criteria.

These are that:

The Bill leaves unchanged the rule that if a redistribution, or more than one election, has occurred between the removal from the Roll and the current election the new provisions do not apply.

The process undertaken by a citizen to enrol to vote has remained largely unchanged for a century. One hundred years is a long time to keep a process, even one that has served Australia well.

With the trend in declining enrolment participation, it is no longer possible to keep doing the same things in the same way, particularly as superior processes have been successfully implemented in New South Wales and Victoria.

The Bill provides the Electoral Commissioner with the ability to use modern processes to protect the participation of eligible Australian citizens in the electoral process. This is fundamental to maintaining the strength and resilience of our democratic system of government.

SUPERANNUATION LEGISLATION AMENDMENT (MYSUPER CORE PROVISIONS) BILL 2011

The Superannuation Legislation Amendment (MySuper Core Provisions) Bill 2011 delivers on the Government's 2010 election commitment to introduce a new simple, low-cost default superannuation product, called MySuper.

We are living longer than ever before. Australians are reorganising their lives to adapt to longer life. So we must change our laws to move with the new rhythms of life.

Yesterday the Government introduced historic legislation that will lift the superannuation savings of 8.4 million Australians.

It's in the national interest to encourage Australians to save more for their retirement. But the trade-off is that the superannuation industry contributes to higher retirement savings through greater efficiency and lower fees.

Access to safe, low cost and simple superannuation is essential to help Australians' retirement savings go further. By 2050, almost one in four Australians will have reached retirement age, compared to one in seven today.

MySuper is a new default superannuation product that has no unnecessary fees or charges and simple features that will make it easier to compare fund performance.

MySuper is a key part of the Government's broader Stronger Super reform package.

Stronger Super also includes reforms to:

In combination, the Government's superannuation reforms are estimated to increase retirement superannuation balances by almost $150,000 for a 30 year old worker earning average full time wages.

Together, these reforms will provide all Australians with the confidence that the superannuation system is working to provide them an adequate income in retirement.

Currently, the superannuation industry manages $1.3 trillion in Australian's retirement savings.

You don't get a bill in the post, but Australians currently pay around $85 a month in superannuation fees, which is more than the average person's monthly mobile phone bill.

However, around 60 per cent of Australians do not make active choices in relation to their superannuation.

And this Government believes that Australians should not be charged for a Rolls-Royce if all they want is a Commodore.

For many Australians, their busy lives mean that they simply do not have time to be deeply involved in their superannuation and get a better deal.

For others, they may feel they do not have the financial skills to make active choices so prefer to rely on the default products offered by superannuation funds.

The independent Cooper Review found that fees in superannuation are too high and that members may currently be paying fees for services that they neither want nor request.

Every dollar diverted in fees or other unnecessary overheads is a dollar less going towards a larger and more secure retirement.

Over a person's working life, these fees can total tens of thousands of dollars of lost retirement income.

That is why introducing MySuper is so important.

It's fair for the superannuation industry to contribute to higher retirement savings through greater efficiency and lower fees.

MySuper will provide a simple, cost-effective default product that all Australians can rely on.

MySuper will be limited to common set of features to make it easier for members, employers and other stakeholders to compare performance across MySuper products, placing downward pressure on fees.

Today, I introduce the first tranche of legislation to implement MySuper.

This Bill amends the Superannuation Guarantee Administration Act 1992 and the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 to establish the core framework for MySuper products.

MySuper products will replace existing default investment options in default funds from 1 July 2013.

MySuper products will have a simple set of product features, irrespective of who provides them.

Therefore, the Bill requires APRA to be satisfied that a MySuper product has some core characteristics.

These characteristics are that:

A trustee will also have to demonstrate that they are able to meet new obligations to act in the best financial interests of the members of the MySuper product. These obligations will be contained in subsequent tranches of legislation.

The Bill also establishes the authorisation regime for MySuper.

Trustees will be required to be authorised by APRA for each MySuper product they wish to offer. APRA will be able to accept applications for MySuper products from 1 January 2013.

Any trustee will be able to apply to offer a MySuper product except trustees of eligible roll-over funds, self-managed superannuation funds and APRA-regulated funds with fewer than five members.

APRA will generally only authorise a trustee to offer a single MySuper product in a superannuation fund. However, there are two exceptions to this rule.

First, trustees will be able offer employers that contribute to the fund for more than 500 employees a separate MySuper product tailored to the needs of the particular workplace.

These products will be able to differ from a fund's main MySuper product in terms of investment strategy, member services and fees. These MySuper products must be separately authorised by APRA.

Secondly, funds will be able to offer additional MySuper products in certain limited circumstances in order to preserve a corporate brand.

From 1 October 2013, it will be mandatory for employers to make contributions to a fund that offers a MySuper product for any employee that has not chosen a fund. This will provide employers 3 months to ensure that they are able to select a default fund that offers a MySuper product to comply with the superannuation guarantee obligations.

MySuper products will be restricted to charging fees that are described in the same way so that they can be directly compared. APRA will collect and publish data on all MySuper products to ensure that this information is freely available.

Members of a MySuper product will also be generally charged a single fee structure. This will enable members, employers and market analysts to make comparisons based on the actual fees paid by members in each MySuper product. In addition, by requiring the same fees to be charged to all members, this will place a competitive pressure on trustees to offer the best possible fees to all of their members.

However, a trustee will be able to charge a lower administration fee to employees of certain employers reflecting administration efficiencies for the fund in dealing with that employer.

Provisions contained in the Bill will generally allow for the transfer of a member interest from a MySuper product to another product under certain circumstances. Of particular concern is where members are transferred between funds when they change jobs. Additional safeguards, including enhanced member disclosure or approval, will be included in subsequent legislation.

Finally, the Bill makes it an offence of strict liability for any person to represent that they offer a MySuper product where they do not have authorisation from APRA.

Additional funding of $29.9 million over four years will be provided to APRA and ASIC that will be recovered through increases to the annual levy on APRA-regulated superannuation funds.

Subsequent tranches of legislation will introduce the remaining measures relating to MySuper.

I would also like to acknowledge the work of Jeremy Cooper and Paul Costello. Both have since moved into significant roles in private industry where they will make valuable contributions to the development of the financial services industry.

Full details of the amendments are contained in the Explanatory Memorandum.

Debate adjourned.

Ordered that the bills be listed on the Notice Paper as separate orders of the day.