Bills

Statutes Amendment (Superannuation) Bill

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 29 October 2014.)

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (15:26): I rise on behalf of Liberal members to support the second reading of the Statutes Amendment (Superannuation) Bill. The bill is a relatively technical and non-controversial series of changes which can be conveniently divided up into three areas. The first is in relation to amendments to the Police Superannuation Act. The primary amendment here arises as a result of the last SAPOL Enterprise Bargaining Agreement which was reached in 2011 which provided for a flexibility allowance of 5 per cent of annual salary which, for superannuation purposes, was agreed would only be applied with a 'prospective effect'.

The particular amendment in this bill will prevent members from receiving a retrospective windfall gain in benefits, especially if the member has only received the allowance for a short period of time in comparison to their period of service. In consultation with the Police Association, we were advised that they supported this aspect of the bill.

The second broad area relates to changes to the Southern State Superannuation Act 2009. One of the primary amendments in this area deals with formalising what we are told is the current practice amongst agencies, for example DCSI, where they have made superannuation guarantee payments to employees earning less than $450 per month, even though the employees were not able to be members of the Triple S scheme due to the restrictions and guidelines that apply to the Triple S scheme.

This amendment will now make it clear that these members are members of the Triple S scheme and, therefore, those departments will be entitled to continue with the current practice. We are also told that there is a further amendment in the bill which will allow for an exchange of data between the Super SA Board and the Southern Scheme Super Corporation. In consultation with the PSA, they have advised that they support this aspect of the bill.

The third area of changes relate to amendments to the Superannuation Act 1988, Police Superannuation Act 1990 and the Parliamentary Superannuation Act 1984. These amendments allow the appropriate superannuation board to release a portion of the member's superannuation for the purposes of funding a Division 293 tax debt incurred by the member of the scheme. Division 293 tax is imposed on concessional contributions of high-income earners whose income and relevant concessional-taxed contributions exceed $300,000. The assessed Division 293 tax is 15 per cent of low-tax contributions that exceed the $300,000 threshold. Again, the PSA and the Police Association have advised the Liberal Party that they support the amendments.

Given, as I said, that the amendments are relatively technical and noncontroversial, given that the PSA and the Police Association have supported the amendments and given that no constituent has advised the Liberal Party that they have any concerns with any aspect of the bill, the Liberal Party supports the second reading.

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills, Minister for Science and Information Economy, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Business Services and Consumers) (15:29): I understand there are no further second reading contributions so I would just like to thank the Hon. Rob Lucas for his indicated support of the opposition for these changes. As the honourable member outlined, they are fairly technical and noncontroversial changes that seek to improve the management of funds and some processes associated with that. There are no other Independents or minor parties who have indicated issues of concern or lack of support so I expect that this will travel through the committee stage expeditiously.

Bill read a second time.

Committee Stage

Bill taken through committee without amendment.

Third Reading

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills, Minister for Science and Information Economy, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Business Services and Consumers) (15:32): I move:

That this bill be now read a third time.

Bill read a third time and passed.