QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
Dr MULINO (Fraser—Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services) (14:39): I thank the member for Spence for his question. I know that the member for Spence, like all members on this side of the House, believes that our superannuation system should be protected. Superannuation should not be a political football or a smokescreen to hide an anti-worker, anti-wages agenda.
It should be what is best for all Australians, and that's the approach that we are taking to super. Super paid on parental leave means a new parent can continue building their retirement savings while taking time away from work to care for their child. Payday super's—and I pay tribute to the Treasurer for his work on this—incredibly important reform means that a tradie can spot that their super hasn't been paid and do something about it before years pass and thousands of dollars have been lost.
The reforms that I announced in August mean that we will strengthen consumer protections and that more Australians can have confidence that their retirement savings are safe from predatory actors within the financial system. Our reforms are also making sure that, if something does go wrong, members will have clearer and smoother pathways to compensation. The government is moving to fix a procedural issue in the compensation scheme of last resort to ensure that Australians who have lost superannuation due to misconduct are not left waiting months longer than necessary to receive compensation.
This is exactly the kind of practical change that those opposite and One Nation should be working with us on. I urge all members to work with us in good faith to support the measure and to support victims. There has been a lot of noise on superannuation recently from those opposite and their frenemies in One Nation.
What they have really made clear is that they do not support universal superannuation. This is a deeply disappointing matter for the millions of Australians who have placed their faith in the super system and who are better off as a result of it. We know the policies of One Nation and the coalition would leave Australians thousands of dollars worse off and, in some cases, tens of thousands worse off.
That matters for people in their retirement. Undermining super has real consequences—a grandparent thinking twice before taking the grandkids out for the day, an older Australian staying in the workforce longer than they'd like because they don't feel secure enough to retire or a couple who have worked hard their whole lives and are wondering whether they can afford the trip that they've always dreamed of taking.
These are the consequences of the policies of those opposite. More super means more security, more independence and more opportunity to enjoy the retirement that Australians who have worked hard their whole lives have earned. Those opposite want to leave Australians poorer and less secure at every stage of their life, all the while claiming that they're acting in their interests.
That's why Labor will continue to strengthen and defend Australia's super system because we know what it means for the people who rely on it.