ADJOURNMENT
Senator POLLEY (Tasmania) (17:12): Few reforms have done more to improve the lives of working Australians than compulsory superannuation. It was a Labor government, led by Paul Keating, that created superannuation. It remains one of Australia's greatest nation-building reforms.
It exists because every worker deserves a decent retirement—not just those fortunate enough to inherit wealth or accumulate assets during their working life. For millions of Australians, superannuation is the difference between retiring with dignity and retiring into an uncertain time as they age. That is why Australians should be deeply concerned by One Nation's latest attack on our superannuation system.
Senator Hanson has described superannuation as 'broken'. One Nation is now pushing for Australians to be able to access more of their retirement savings early to deal with cost-of-living pressures. Let's be absolutely clear: One Nation proposes to let Australians raid their superannuation whenever they choose.
It is reckless, short-sighted and fundamentally wrong. Superannuation is not a rainy-day bank account. It is not meant to be treated as spare cash for political slogans.
It is the foundation of a dignified retirement for millions of working Australians. People contribute to their superannuation over decades so they can retire with confidence, independence and, most importantly, dignity. Every dollar invested today grows over time and helps build financial security for tomorrow.
If those savings are drained early, Australians do not lose just what they withdraw; they lose years of investment growth. They lose future security. They lose part of the retirement that they have spent a lifetime building.
That is the danger of One Nation's recent thought bubble. It pretends to offer freedom, but in reality it risks leaving Australians worse off later in life. It shifts the burden from today to tomorrow and asks future retirees to pay the price.
This shouldn't really surprise anyone. One Nation has consistently opposed measures to help working Australians build economic security. They opposed all the cost-of-living measures.
They opposed cheaper child care. They opposed cheaper medicine. They opposed stronger workplace reforms.
They opposed early childhood educators. They opposed an increase to aged-care workers. They opposed Labor's reform to deliver superannuation on paid parental leave, a reform designed to improve retirement outcomes particularly for women.
Time and time again, when Labor has acted to strengthen financial security, One Nation has stood in opposition. The Albanese Labor government has taken a different approach. We have strengthened workers' rights.
We have backed their wages. We have expanded paid parental leave for parents, and, for the first time, we're paying superannuation on paid parental leave because parents should not be punished in their retirement for raising children. Labor built superannuation just like we built Medicare.
We have always worked to strengthen superannuation as we've worked to strengthen Medicare, and Labor will not stand by while One Nation with their friends over there on that side, the Liberals and Nationals, seek to undermine what we have been successful in building for Australian workers. We need this reform in this country. I think that people who work in retail, teachers, apprentices, tradies, hospitality workers, aged-care workers, early childhood educators, the cleaners who clean late at night and the shearers out in the paddock all deserve to have a secure retirement, and we will stand with them every day in this place because we're the only government, a Labor government, which will always stand up for workers.
We know what the others did leading into the last election. They wanted to increase taxes. We are the government who will defend and support Australian workers, because the Albanese Labor government actually delivers real change.
We deliver real change for Australians. (Time expired)