PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS
Mr REBELLO (McPherson) (18:45): I've spoken on a few motions today, and this one is yet another example of this Labor government putting forward motions to congratulate themselves on things that they think are achievements. I had the opportunity to speak on the super legislation when it was before the House. Let me say this.
The member for Bennelong spoke about the fact that—and we've heard this rhetoric because the Labor Party sings it out in chorus in the chamber—they want people to keep more of what they earn. This is actually inconsistent with their actions and policies. Mr Hogan: They're working harder for less.
Mr REBELLO: They're working harder for less—absolutely right, Member for Page. This motion exposes a fundamental difference between the values and ideology of the Labor Party and of us on the coalition side. This is something that is creeping into politics in this country at a federal level, and it is, quite frankly, dangerous.
What it exposes is that those on the other side would much rather—and this is all we're talking about now—ask, 'How can we redistribute what we've already got? How can we reallocate the wealth in this country that is already there? How can we do that better?' Those on this side of the House—and this is a fundamental difference with the coalition—believe in growing this economy.
We believe in generating more wealth, because you won't generate wealth for this country and for Australians unless you have that growth attitude. Now, the coalition supports super. That is not in question at all.
What we've actually been speaking about is where this government has taken this debate. It started with the Treasurer, who put forward a notion of wanting to tax unrealised gains, which are paper increases in asset values that exist only on a spreadsheet. We on this side of the House, the coalition, came out strongly against it.
The community raised some really serious concerns, and even voices within the Labor Party itself spoke up and began to question it. It would have decimated individuals, small businesses and farmers across the country. What the government did instead was put up this alternative version of a super tax, which was rushed through parliament.
We've never seen that happen before under this Albanese government! We seem to get legislation being rushed through every single day. The government rushed the legislation through, and it's not something that Australians appreciate—because we never heard about this before the election.
If you don't have trust within taxation policy or within superannuation policy, you have absolutely nothing. There are parts of the super legislation that we did agree with. We supported the changes to the low-income superannuation tax offset and we support payday super, but we're actually scrutinising and doing the effective job of an opposition.
While the government may take credit for it, let me remind this chamber and the government who actually pays payday super. Who delivers it? Mr Tim Wilson: Small businesses.
Mr REBELLO: It's small businesses. That's right, Shadow Treasurer. It is not the government that delivers it.
As we know, government doesn't create wealth; businesses do. It's the businesses that create wealth. I'll end my contribution by saying that we in the coalition support super.
We support Australians saving for retirement because we believe in reward for effort. We believe that, if you have contributed to this country, you've worked hard and you've saved effectively, you have every right to enjoy the fruits of your labour. We support workers being paid what they're owed.
But something that we on this side of the parliament just cannot stand for is more taxes. We cannot stand for rushed implementation. We cannot stand for a situation where the Australian people cannot trust their politicians and their political leaders because they say one thing before the election and they do something else after the election.
We will never support policies that treat superannuation as some sort of revenue grab because we don't have a government that can operate within the true fiscal guardrails that the people it governs expect. So I say that super belongs to Australians. It's money for your retirement.
The coalition will never support it becoming this Labor Party's piggy bank.