Daniel Mulino:
So my name’s Daniel Mulino, I’m the Minister for Financial Services and Assistant Treasurer, and I’m here this morning to talk about lost and unclaimed superannuation.
Lost and unclaimed superannuation is an issue which the ATO runs a check on each year and this year has found that there’s around $19 billion in lost and unclaimed super. I’m encouraging people to log on to the ATO website myGov Super Health Check to determine whether you have any lost and unclaimed super.
There can be a range of reasons why people have lost super – it could be that you’ve changed your name, that you’ve changed jobs or even that you’ve worked overseas. What this can mean is that people can find themselves paying multiple fees, which will obviously have a bad effect on people’s end balances.
The ATO estimates that there’s around 7 million Australians with lost or unclaimed super. The average amount is around $2,500 – a bit over that – and so it’s really important that people do check to see whether they have lost or unclaimed super and that they get on to the website and they go through the very simple steps on that website to aggregate their accounts.
This will mean that people pay less fees, that they have more money in retirement and that it helps people to achieve that ultimate important goal of superannuation dignity in retirement.
So, thanks very much for that. And I’m happy to take questions on any other topics – or that.
Journalist:
We’re expecting to see some CPI data soon. There’s been some jumps in other countries. Are you worried that inflation could be bad?
Mulino:
So, what I would say about inflation is that when we came to office inflation had a 6 in front of it and was rising fast. Over the course of this government, over the first term and the 6 months of this second term, what we’ve seen is that there’s been substantial, sustained progress on inflation. We’ve seen headline inflation at 3 per cent or lower for around a year now, and we’ve seen core inflation within the band for 9 months. So that’s really good progress.
I won’t speculate on what the number might be later today, but I just think that it’s really important to put into context what we’ve achieved as a country, in part through the sustainable, sensible macro economic management of this government.
Journalist:
Will the government look at tweaking the Housing Australia Future Fund to make it more effective?
Mulino:
So the Housing Australia Future Fund is a well‑designed scheme that has already seen a very significant number of housing projects approved. I’ve seen a number of those in my own electorate. I’ve been at events with the Minister for Housing where I’ve seen very substantial developments which will provide homes for people in fantastic areas – social and affordable housing.
What I would say is that if we look back to the previous term the Opposition and the Greens delayed the legislation enabling the Housing Australia Future Fund and a range of other housing measures for around 2 years. So it’s not surprising that that’s had an impact on the speed with which houses have been delivered.
But, as I said, I’ve seen the number of approvals is very significant through that scheme and I’ve been at events myself with the Minister for Housing and seen what it’s going do deliver.
Journalist:
Are you concerned now that the Audit Office will look through that scheme?
Mulino:
Well as I said, I think that scheme is well designed. It’s going to deliver a very substantial number of social and affordable housing units. They’re going to be delivered right around the country. They’re going to be delivered in areas that are going to provide wonderful homes for people. The supply side of this housing challenge is absolutely critical, and the Housing Australia Future Fund is a really important part of that. So I think that that is a scheme that is central to our delivery of a better housing solution for the Australian community.
Journalist:
Just back on the CPI data, RBA has used the true mean for around the last year. Do you expect they will continue to do that, even if it’s lower than the headline?
Mulino:
So I think what the RBA looks at is it wants to see inflation sustainably within the band. So it looks at both measures. It has looked at the core inflation because it is a measure which tries to take some of the volatility out of inflation. But at the core, the RBA is looking to see inflation reduced in a sustainable way.
And that’s what we’ve seen over the last year. We’ve seen inflation come off from – with a 6 in front of it when we came into office to having 3 per cent or less on the headline for now a year and within the band for the last 9 months on trim mean. And I just note that this government over the course of its first term and into the second term has delivered consecutive surpluses. We’ve managed fiscally very responsibly, and we’ve also at the same time delivered targeted and well‑calibrated assistance to people who have been doing it tough.
And I just note that that assistance, which has come across a range of areas, whether it be cheaper medicines, energy bill relief or rental relief and other areas, has just about in all cases been opposed by the Opposition.
Journalist:
Minister, the wealth management business Netwealth is asking the federal government to compensate its clients who have lost money in the collapse of First Guardian. You’re the responsible minister for that section of the law. Will you be prepared to stump up taxpayer money to compensate investors for that, and what are your considerations about that?
Mulino:
So, I just want to start in answering that question by acknowledging that a lot of people have been caught in a very difficult situation by the collapse of the Shield and First Guardian businesses. A lot of people have been put into a position of a lot of hardship. I’ve met with a number of the victims and I’ve heard their stories, very harrowing stories, and my heart goes out to people who have lost funds in that situation.
There are a lot of people that have lost a substantial part and in some cases just about all of their life savings. So the government is taking this matter very seriously. I’m taking this matter very seriously.
The other thing I would note is that the priority of the independent regulator has been to take all the actions that it can to protect investor funds. So that includes undertaking a range of actions, including licence cancellation, freezing funds, travel restrictions. It has taken actions against a number of the platforms in addition to those actions against financial advisers and others.
I welcome the fact that ASIC through its various actions has entered into an agreement with Macquarie which has seen over $300 million of compensation go to the investors in Shield. And that’s a very substantial step forward. But I just want to preface my answer by saying that there are a number of actions underway.
As you’ve asked, I’ve had a letter provided to me in relation to part 23 of the CIS Act, and that is an important request that I will consider very carefully. I am – I have asked my department – I asked my department upon receiving that letter to provide me with a briefing. Once I’ve received that briefing I will then write to APRA, as I’m required to do under the act, for APRA’s views as the independent macro prudential regulator, and I will table that letter that I write to APRA in the parliament.
So, I don’t want to prejudge where I will go in my consideration of that request, but I’m stepping through methodically, getting briefing from the department and then, in turn, as required by the act, I will write to APRA.
Journalist:
Do you agree with Michele Bullock that stamp duty is bad for the housing market?
Mulino:
Well, what I would say is that this government has a really ambitious tax agenda. We have an agenda when it comes to tax of reducing income tax on all taxpayers. That was something we took to the last election, something we’re committed to. And I would note something that was opposed by those opposite, and they still, as far as I can tell, haven’t figured out where they stand on that. Another part of our tax policy was to reduce HECS by 20 per cent, and that was the first bill that we introduced into parliament. And we have other tax measures – one that I introduced very early in my time in this role was to freeze the beer excise.
So, look, we have a very ambitious tax agenda that we’re implementing throughout the course of this term. Look, a lot of economists talk about the inefficiency of stamp duty. This is an issue which has been on the agenda for a long time. It’s really a state issue and I just focus on the fact that we have an ambitious agenda as a Commonwealth government and we’re delivering on that.
Journalist:
Should the Commonwealth, though, take a lead role? Should Jim Chalmers and Clare O’Neil get state ministers together to push them that scrap stamp duty?
Mulino:
Well, as I say, we’ve got an ambitious tax agenda. We’re delivering income tax cuts for all taxpayers, all 14 million taxpayers. That’s a really substantial gain. We’re delivering on HECS relief. We’re delivering on excise freeze for beer. And there are other elements of our tax agenda in the multinational sphere. So these are all things we’re delivering on. That’s our tax agenda and we’re delivering on that.
Speaker:
We might wrap it. Thank you.
Mulino:
Thank you.