STATEMENTS BY SENATORS

Senator CAROL BROWN (Tasmania) (13:38): One Nation is calling its latest economic announcement a super pay boost, but there is no boost. There is no new money. What it is is a stunt dressed up as economic policy.

They are taking money that would otherwise go into a worker's retirement savings and handing part of it back today. Under One Nation's proposal, renters and mortgage holders could divert three per cent of their wages from compulsory super for up to three years. Super Members Council modelling estimates a median full-time worker using the scheme could retire around $25,000 worse off, and a couple could be more than $50,000 worse off.

That is the real trade-off—a few dollars today, with a much bigger cost waiting at retirement. Since coming to government, Labor has taken a different approach. We have seen the super guarantee rise from 10.5 per cent to 12 per cent.

We've legislated an objective for superannuation to preserve savings and deliver income for a dignified retirement. We've introduced super on the Commonwealth Paid Parental Leave because taking time out of the workforce to raise a child should not mean retiring with less. And, from 1 July this year, payday super means workers' super is paid with their wages, helping people get their money sooner and benefit from compounding earlier.

These are practical changes designed to strengthen retirement incomes. One Nation has opposed key measures along the way, including payday super. One Nation voted against adding super to the Commonwealth funded parental scheme.

You can't take money from Australians' retirement and dress it up as a pay rise. You would not make them richer. You would not make them better off in the long run.

You would simply have shifted the money and left them worse off in retirement.