E&OE  
 

[ACKNOWLEDGMENTS] 

A STRONG RETIREMENT SYSTEM

It’s a central mission of an incoming Coalition government to put in place policies that will not only restore Australians’ standard of living, which has taken a big hit in the last two and a half years, but to help them to build the wealth they aspire to, to secure the future they aspire to as well.  

 

For too long, we have let aspiration become a dirty word – we’ve neglected the role of a strong financial services sector, and the importance it plays in supporting aspiration for Australians. That’s what I deeply believe in as a Liberal and I know my colleagues in my Nationals as well.  

 

Aspiration has to absolutely be at the centre of our economy, of our country. It’s the promise we give to every young Australian and it’s a promise that we all, collectively, have to deliver on.  

 

Reestablishing aspiration as the centrepiece of our country requires a government prepared to make wealth creation a priority. And that means addressing , we believe, five key challenges:  

• First, is securing a pathway to make the great Australian dream of home ownership achievable again. 

• Second, is delivering on the promise of the Quality of Advice Review and restoring our financial advice profession to where it should be.  

• Third, is ensuring we are putting in place the regulatory frameworks for new wealth creating opportunities.  

• Fourth, is supporting the financial literacy of Australians and addressing scams; and 

• Fifth, is supporting the network of professionals who support Australians to achieve their wealth and retirement goals, and supporting Australians who choose to save in a self-managed super fund.  

 
The super system has a vital role to play in all of these tasks, and that’s absolutely central to what we will go forward to the next election with.   

 

The Coalition is absolutely committed to the role of super in our retirement system.  

 

Our superannuation system plays a critical role in our economy and it’s critical to the lives of Australians. 

 

Changes to the super system should add to what super delivers in retirement, not add to what politicians can’t fund with their budgets. It shouldn’t be there to fill the holes of a government that wants to spend more money.  

STATE OF SUPER

Australians rightly view super as their money, because it is.  

 

The growing size and role of super means it is even more important that we get the policy settings right. 

 

Increasingly in our super system we need to focus on the importance of good governance, clear price signals, and transparency about the use of members' funds.  

 

The IMF has warned of the risks of getting this wrong, just last week, and the RBA has made this clear in its financial stability review.  

 

There is no doubt the industry is shifting – with more members hitting retirement age with accumulated savings; more Australians having substantial balances in super; and the super guarantee increasing to 12% - members’ expectations are changing and escalating.  

 

If superannuation is to keep its social license, and we certainly want to see that, it must have a relentless focus on the interests of members. 

 

The Your Future, Your Super reforms – along with the Retirement Income Covenant – are critical reforms that the Grattan Institute has shown are delivering real benefits to members. 

 

As these reforms mature, the Coalition strongly believes that no future changes should come at the expense of a laser focus on delivering returns to members.  

 

These changes have added important accountability to fund managers, and the Coalition will not support anything that dilutes the established transparency for consumers, for investors, for members.  

 

APRA and ASIC are rightfully warning about the need for funds to step up on their Retirement Income Covenant obligations. 

 

Our message is clear: if super trustees support their members, respect those members’ agency over their money, and ensure the funds run in a way that avoids conflicts of interest, with a focus on financial returns not activism, we will always support you.  

 

We will not tolerate anything less.  

 

This is absolutely essential for the interests of everyone in this room, if we are to keep the social license for super.  

SUPER FOR HOUSING

Critical to building the social license is remembering that superannuation is an important part of the retirement system, but it’s not the entire retirement system. 

 

With rising balances and a higher superannuation guarantee – economists from the Grattan Institute through to Saul Eslake - have noted that super is increasingly dominating the savings of Australian families. 

 

Saul Eslake has pointed out that the rising superannuation guarantee has been an explicit factor in the Fair Work Commission’s minimum wage decisions and has correctly highlighted this was something that the ACTU were highly aware of as the super guarantee developed over 1992 and 1993. 

 

This is a significant point. 

 

In the 1993 election, both major parties promised to allow allocation of superannuation to home ownership. 

This wasn’t a quiet promise, buried after an election.  

 

It was an integral part of the promise of compulsory superannuation. 

 

It was codified in the Prices and Incomes Accord Mark VII, repeatedly promised on  the letterheads of the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Treasurer, and Industrial Relations Minister, and endorsed by the ACTU and ASFA.  

 

ASFA said at the time: “Using superannuation monies to help people gain access to home ownership is not inconsistent with the objective of superannuation funds.”  

 

John Dawkins reiterated the Keating government’s promise to deliver Super for Housing both in the post-election 1993 Budget, and in the government response to the Fitzgerald National Savings review.  

But the Labor government never delivered this election commitment. 

 

When Ralph Lewis finally abandoned the promise, the Canberra Times rightly editorialised: what about the workers? 

 

Indeed, the bipartisan Select Committee of Superannuation saw prominent Labor Senators break ranks with Keating to reiterate their support for the policy. 

 

What is more confounding is that since the Keating government broke that promise - all the reasons it did so have evaporated.  

 

The average house in 1993 cost 9.3 times the average salary. It now costs around 16.4 times.  

 

The super guarantee in 1993 was 3%, it is now increasing to 12%.  

 

The average super balance in 1993 was around $4000. The median balance of 30-34 years olds is now more than $34,000. 

 

The household savings ratio in the decade prior to 1992 averaged 9.2%, it has averaged 4.8% since the super guarantee was introduced. And of course, it’s almost zero right now.  

 

This means that despite the deposit hurdle growing, Australians are finding it harder than ever to build their savings.  

 

We need to restore the broken promise of super to the Australian people.  

 

Under a Coalition government, Australian first homeowners and women who separate later in life, will be able to draw down on their super for a home deposit – up to $50,000 or 40% of their balance. The investor will have to return the deposit to the fund on the sale of the home, ensuring the preservation principle is still intact. 

 

This reflects a sensible trade off between the undisputed importance of housing to quality of life in retirement, and the importance and purpose of super.  

 

The policy recognises the Fitzgerald Savings Review’s recommendation that such a scheme be more targeted than the one that Keating took to the election in 1993, reiterated by the Select Committee of Superannuation’s 1994 Super for Housing report. 

 

The policy also aligns with many of our peer countries around the world whether it’s Canada, Singapore, Switzerland, Germany, New Zealand, and the United States which all allow for first home buyers to have limited access to retirement savings for housing.  

 

It reflects the unique dynamics of residential property as an important investment class in Australia.  

 

And it achieves Menzies' visions of a compulsory contribution scheme, ensuring Australians don't have to plead their poverty to direct their savings to housing.  

 

But importantly, as I said earlier, and this is something I think is often forgotten - it corrects a broken promise. A promise that the Labor government explicitly tied to the superannuation guarantee.  

 

Now, this sits alongside our comprehensive plan to boost supply and bring down the cost of construction of housing for Australians. In particular through the $5 billion Housing Infrastructure Programme which will unlock up to 500,000 homes. By freezing the National Construction Code, reducing migration, and restoring law and order in our construction industry. All of these things are an essential element of solving the housing crisis and restoring the aspiration of Australian home ownership. 

 

Now, our broader housing policy is focused on three things:  

• Security – helping Australians to get into the market.  

• Serviceability – helping Australians meet their repayments.  

• Supply – freeing up and building more houses and ensuring new homeowners can enter the market without worsening the balance of supply and demand. 

 

The Coalition’s super for housing policy is about restoring the promise of super, not dismantling it.  

 

And I would encourage those in this room to engage with this policy in good faith. 

 

We are in a bizarre position, might I say to most Australians, where super advocacy bodies are supporting higher taxes on super, while opposing its use for housing.  

 

Sensible people can disagree, but there is no faster way to end the social license of super than by engaging in partisan attacks, disingenuous commentary, or scare campaigns.  

 

In this respect I'd like to acknowledge the good work of industry association leaders who, while not supporting this policy, continue to engage constructively.  

 

Blake Briggs of the Financial Services Council has acknowledged the importance of the home ownership challenge to the future of our financial system and retirement policy; Mary Delahunty of ASFA, for identifying the good work some funds are doing – such as Aussie Super - on supporting the objective of home ownership through innovative models as well.  

 

A compulsory retirement system that ignores home ownership flies in the face of all evidence about the importance of home ownership to retirement outcomes. 

 

We cannot condemn Australians to be forever renters.  

 

We are not for turning on the importance of home ownership to retirement outcomes.  

FINANCIAL ADVICE

But building a strong retirement system is not just about superannuation alone.  

 

Solving the advice challenge is absolutely critical. 

 

The Coalition reiterates our commitment to fast-tracking implementation of the Levy Review, in full, in government.  

 

I can confirm that my colleague Luke Howarth and I have sought briefing from the government on the next tranche of the legislative response.  

 

And we call on the government to work with us and pass a bipartisan bill before the election.  

 

We cannot let the promise of this review slip through our fingers.  

 

It will help advisers, it will help consumers, and it will help super funds meet their Retirement Income Covenant obligations.  

 

We are acutely conscious that there are more challenges than just implementing the review – but it is a critical enabler to effective digital advice and supporting product modernisation that is overdue.  

 

We hope to see this settled in this term of parliament.  

DEREGULATION AND NEW MARKETS

We also need to build new opportunities for Australians to build wealth outside of super, in other ways.  

 

Preservation is an important principle, and while housing is a clear retirement need, Australians need more flexible savings and wealth options across their life cycle.  

 

This requires a combination of deregulation and effective regulation of new markets.  

 

We’ve led the debate on the establishment of the Financial Services Regulatory Grid.  

 

Under a future Coalition government, we will implement the grid without delay - because a modern, transparent financial system is essential to unlocking new opportunities. 

 

We have been clear that we will support more pathways to support Australians to grow their wealth: 

• Retaining sophisticated investor thresholds 

• Fast-tracking reform of digital assets to protect consumers and promote investment 

 

The Coalition is also closely examining what reforms can: 

• support greater venture capital and small business financing 

• simplify corporate bond issuance and make it more attractive for retail investors 

• accelerate robust carbon markets in line with the King Review and ERAC processes begun under our government.  

 

We are committed to supporting retail investors and super funds to diversify their savings and investments. 

FINANCIAL LITERACY AND SCAMS

Access to affordable financial advice and effective regulation of new products isn’t just a luxury - it’s essential to protecting Australians from scams and empowering them to build wealth.  

 

Without better advice and smart regulation, we risk sending Australians into the arms of 'finfluencers' and exposing them to unnecessary financial risks. 
 

More than half of Gen Z have some kind of investment.  

 

However, in the absence of advice and appropriate resources, we know they are going elsewhere.   

 
Social media, with billions of views on #Fintok, is now the go-to for financial advice, leaving many Australians vulnerable to scams. ACCC data shows investment scams cause the highest financial losses. 

 

We cannot allow a generation of Australians – already sceptical of home ownership; already sceptical about their prospects of retirement – to become once bitten twice shy when it comes to financial investments.   

 

It’s bad for aspiration, it is bad for the economy, and of course it's bad for investors.  
 

To address this, we must address the advice issue, but we also need to think more broadly, and we need to bolster financial literacy.  

 

We need to acknowledge that the best consumer frameworks in the world cannot address the systemic, organised, cross border criminal gangs and hostile actors behind these scams.  

 

We need to treat scams for what they are: a law and order issue. 

 

There has been a lot of good work done across the financial services industry on these issues.  

 

But we cannot declare mission accomplished while Australians’ savings and wealth are still at risk.  

FINANCIAL PROFESSIONALS & SELF-MANAGED SUPERANNUATION

Retirement is an individual experience. There's no one size fits all product for retirement. 

 

We need policy that delivers choice, informed options, and the advice and adviser network to deliver the very best outcomes in retirement.  

 

Self-managed super funds are an integral part of that choice. 

 

Self-managed super is a proud legacy of the Howard-Costello government, and it will remain critical under future Coalition governments. We cannot allow a preferential regulatory regime to apply to one sector over another.  

 

Critical to this is also supporting the finance professionals that support our retirement system, particularly our SMSF sector.  

 

This extends beyond financial advisers to accountants, bookkeepers, and lawyers. 

 

We need to support these professions, not burden them with more red tape, more costs, and more headaches dealing with government regulators.  

 

The constant refrain as I travel around the country is business, particularly small business, is not fun anymore.  

 

And we need younger Australians to want to be in these professions and in small businesses, if we are to get the advice and support we need in this sector. 

 

CONCLUSION

Our vision is clear: a nation where Australians secure a home, build wealth throughout life, and retire with dignity.  

 

The policies I’ve outlined today and will continue to outline in the lead up to the next election, will restore aspiration, unlock opportunities, and ensure every Australian can achieve the future they hope for.  

 

This is critical to get Australia back on track and back to basics. 

 

Now is the time to act, and the Coalition stands ready to lead. 

 

We stand ready to work with all of you to achieve all of these goals and secure a more prosperous future for all Australians. 

 

ENDS.