Ms JACKSON (7:40 PM) —This government talks about applying the `rule of law' in Australian workplaces and I ask tonight: why don't they start by ensuring

that all employers are observing the current rule of law by paying the superannuation guarantee on behalf of their employees? Firstly, I need to commiserate with a man who phoned the Australian Taxation Office 30 times on Monday to try to get an answer to his question. My office could not get through on the Superannuation Helpline for most of yesterday. The line was permanently busy. After doing a bit of research, we think we have discovered why. An estimated 28 per cent, or 216,000, of the 800,000 employers in Australia have not paid their employees' superannuation guarantee contributions correctly, which means that there are potentially a million workers out there trying to find out what they can do about it.

On 20 March this year, the Labor shadow spokesperson, Senator Nick Sherry, reported to the Senate that the tax office have received some 11,000 complaints about unpaid superannuation in the year 2001 alone and have admitted that the amount of outstanding superannuation guarantee payments is at least $116 million. Despite the fact that employees regularly lose unpaid superannuation entitlements when companies are in financial trouble, this government will not include superannuation contributions in their already inadequate employee entitlements scheme—yet these moneys belong to the employee and we expect employees to rely on them in their retirement. Lost superannuation not only has a devastating effect on the individuals concerned but will have a significant impact on Australian taxpayers. It will mean a greater reliance on the pension at a time when the Australian community will be least able to afford it. This is a significant issue for Australian families and the Australian government.

The issue is of personal significance to many of the people I represent. Judy Baker is a constituent in the federal seat of Hasluck who is owed $7,033.56 plus interest for a period from 1997 to 2001. Judy is 53 years of age and trying to plan her retirement. As a low-income earner, every cent counts. Judy could be out of pocket by around $10,000 in retirement moneys when she comes to retire. Judy's employer has not paid superannuation for her since 1997-98. Judy lodged her complaint with the Australian Taxation Office in May 2001. She has not even been given any guarantee that her moneys will be recovered.

Sharon and Dean Campbell are also Hasluck constituents. Sharon and Dean's employer did not pay their superannuation contributions. Sharon Campbell worked with Quantrill Pty Ltd from 20 July 1998 to 15 March 2000 and did not receive a cent. Sharon lodged her complaint with the Australian Taxation Office on 20 July 2000—almost two years ago. She has no idea what the ATO is currently doing with her complaint and if she will ever see her moneys. My office discovered yesterday that an administrator had been appointed to the company and, on contacting the adminis-trator, we discovered that the company had been sold and Sharon's super-annuation moneys may be paid. Let us hope so.

Another constituent, Neville Peters, has only been paid $62.82 in superannuation since joining his employer on 26 September 1994. He left his employment in 1998 and lodged an official complaint with the Australian Taxation Office at that time. He received an acknowledgement letter but has heard nothing more since. The failure of the Australian Taxation Office has been spectacular. The number of cases is growing all the time as employers discover that they can get away with not paying their obligations under the Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act.

So what are the government doing? They refuse to include unpaid superannuation as part of their inadequate employee entitlements scheme. Under the Howard scheme, if your employer goes bust so does your retirement future. Their priority is to reduce the amount of tax on superannuation contributions paid by high-income earners. The recent changes we have seen in this budget will produce a $370 million tax cut to the wealthiest three per cent of working Australians while it will do nothing to enhance the retirement income of ordinary working Australians.

The government have delayed the introduction of the requirement for employers to make superannuation contributions on at least a quarterly basis, so it takes much longer to track down employers who are not making contributions, and employees lose thousands of dollars in compound interest. What is desperately needed is an agency that has the resources and the will to take on offending employers by prosecuting for the recovery of all unpaid benefits going back to 1992, when the act was introduced. We all pay if these employers are not brought to book.