Tax on Taxable Superannuation Earnings
Superannuation (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Imposition Bill 2026
House of Representatives
Senate
Assent
Introduced by: The Hon Dr Jim Chalmers MP (ALP)
Links to official parliament websites
Effects of this bill
If this bill passes, it means that:
The Debate
What different members said when this bill was debated:
Dr Jim Chalmers ALP
“I move: That the bill be now read a second time. Today I am also introducing the Superannuation (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Imposition Bill 2026. This bill works in conjunction with the Treasury Laws Amendment (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Bill 2026 to make our super system stronger, fairer and more sustainable.”
Tom French ALP
“I rise to speak in support of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Bill 2026 and the accompanying Superannuation (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Imposition Bill 2026. These bills are about stewardship, but, if you had just witnessed that and listened to the member for Goldstein, I don’t think you would know what the bill is about.”
Anne Webster NAT
“This bill, the Treasury Laws Amendment (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Bill , is about realisation. The Treasurer came to the realisation, after a strong campaign by those of us on this side of the House, the Nationals and the Liberals, that taxing unrealised capital gains is wrong. The Treasurer had it in his head that it would be okay to tax people on income they hadn’t yet earned.”
Carina Garland ALP
“So far we’ve had a couple of rather strange contributions from those opposite. It is disappointing, but not surprising, that those opposite have been less than wholehearted in their support for a fairer superannuation system, given that, at every turn, they have taken an approach that finds the idea of every Australian having dignity in retirement to be quite a radical idea.”
Dr RYAN
“Australians are proud of our superannuation system. As a nation, we have one of the most sophisticated and modernised retirement income safeguards in the world, a system designed to guarantee dignity for older Australians. Generations of Australians will finish their working lives knowing that they are financially secure because of their superannuation.”
“I rise to speak in support of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Bill 2026. Labor is the party of superannuation. It was Labor prime ministers Bob Hawke and Paul Keating who had the courage and foresight to create universal superannuation through the Prices and Incomes Accord.”
Kate Chaney IND
“I rise to speak on the Treasury Laws Amendment (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Bill 2026 and the Superannuation (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Imposition Bill 2026.”
“The name of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Bill 2026 speaks directly to core Labor values—values like equal opportunity for all Australians, values such as inclusive economic growth, values that prioritise reducing inequality and ensuring access to essential services like health and education, and values like security and fairness in retirement.”
“The Treasurer has some explaining to do. He really does, because this legislation bells the cat on his failure. On his watch, what we saw was a proposal by the Australian Labor Party to put in an unrealised capital gain. Who would that have hurt the most? It would have hurt farmers, who already do it tough with the vagaries of the weather, of markets and of international volatility.”
“In my view, if I were to sum up what Australian workers were thinking at the moment, it would be that the income and taxation system is stacked against them. I often hear from workers that, no matter how hard they work, they feel that they just can’t get ahead, and they’re right.”
Allegra Spender IND
“I rise to speak on the Superannuation (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Imposition Bill 2026 and the associated Treasury Laws Amendment (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Bill 2026. I do welcome this bill, and I welcome the government’s approach to the superannuation system in its current form, not in its previous form.”
Libby Coker ALP
“I rise today in support of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Bill 2026. This bill is about something absolutely fundamental: making Australia’s superannuation system stronger, fairer and more sustainable in the longer term. Superannuation represents the best of what it means to be Australian.”
Ben Small LIB
“The one word missing from this debate is ’sorry’. The Treasurer should be saying sorry to the Australian people, particularly those aspirational Australians who believe in reward for effort and the incentive to strive in this country.”
Gabriel Ng ALP
“I rise today to speak in support of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Bill 2026. As the Australian people know, Labor is the party of superannuation.”
“This bill, the Treasury Laws Amendment (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Bill 2026, shows that this country has an absolute mountain to climb when it comes to making our tax system fairer, especially for young working people, who are getting smashed while the richest of the rich have a smorgasbord of tax minimisation options to choose from.”
Kate Thwaites ALP
“The Treasury Laws Amendment (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Bill 2026 is important legislation because goes to the heart of what sort of superannuation system we want in Australia and what superannuation means for Australians both now and for future generations. Superannuation is absolutely one of the great achievements of the Australian Labor movement.”
Pat Conaghan NAT
“I’m very pleased but somewhat concerned to rise and speak to the Treasury Laws Amendment (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Bill 2026 and the Superannuation (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Imposition Bill 2026 because these bills represent a fundamental shift in how the government views Australians’ retirement savings.”
Sam Lim ALP
“I rise to speak to the Treasury Laws Amendment (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Bill 2026 and the Superannuation (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Imposition Bill 2026. These bills deliver more help to low-income workers and reform the superannuation system to make it stronger, fairer and more sustainable.”
Sam Birrell NAT
“I too rise to speak on the Treasury Laws Amendment (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Bill 2026 and the related bill. I think the best thing we could say is that Labor’s super mess is back, but this time it’s not the original; it’s a sequel. I’m trying to forget the original because that was a horror movie. But the sequel’s worse.”
Rowan Holzberger ALP
“I rise in support of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Bill 2026 and the Superannuation (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Imposition Bill 2026. As a first-term member, I’m always happy to learn from people who’ve been here for a long time, and I appreciate that now we can address policies which used to exist but don’t exist anymore.”
Mary Aldred LIB
“Too often, I see regional Australians bearing the brunt of unintended consequences at the hands of this federal Labor government. That the government has backed down on its proposal to tax unrealised gains in superannuation tells us one thing very clearly, and that is: it wasn’t a very good policy to start with.”
Sharon Claydon ALP
“I rise to speak in support of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Bill 2026 and the Superannuation (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Imposition Bill 2026. This legislation is about strengthening what is one of Australia’s most important social institutions, our superannuation system.”
David Batt LNP
“I rise to speak to the Treasury Laws Amendment (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Bill 2026. Pressure from this side of the House and our communities across the nation, including regional communities like Hinkler, forced the taxation of unrealised gains to be abandoned. People power had a small win. But it is clear that this government cannot be trusted with tax reform.”
Sally Sitou ALP
“At its heart, the Treasury Laws Amendment (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Bill 2026 asks a simple question: what and who is superannuation for? Is it for ordinary working Australians—our teachers, nurses, early educators and police officers—who are putting aside a little each fortnight so they can retire with dignity and security?”
Ms BELL
“The member for Reid says that this is not radical policy reform, but how is moving the goalposts on Australians’ superannuation accounts not radical policy? It undermines certainty in the whole system of superannuation across Australia.”
Meryl Swanson ALP
“I rise today to speak in support of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Bill 2026 and the Superannuation (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Imposition Bill 2026. These bills are about fairness. They are about dignity in retirement.”
Colin Boyce LNP
“I rise to make a few brief comments on the Treasury Laws Amendment (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Bill 2026. Instead of regurgitating all the talking points that we all get given on both sides of the House, I would like to draw my comments from some personal experiences in my life as a businessman, and what it actually means for real Australians.”
“I rise today to speak in support of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Bill 2026. Australia’s superannuation system is a savings system for retirement, and it is the envy of the world. It has a simple foundation. Over your working life, your employer puts money on top of your wages into a super account which stays invested until you retire.”
Scott Buchholz LNP
“To my fellow Australians: in speaking on the Treasury Laws Amendment (Building a Stronger and Fairer Superannuation System) Bill 2026—for those in the gallery, I want to draw your attention to the very carefully crafted title of this bill, and I want you to focus on the word ’fairer’.”
Jo Briskey ALP
“This legislation is about a promise. It’s about a promise that, after a lifetime of work and after years of showing up, contributing, caring for your family, volunteering in your community and paying your taxes, you retire with dignity—not just scraping by and not just surviving, but secure, independent and able to enjoy the years you’ve earned. That promise has a name.”
Simon Kennedy LIB
“Let’s be clear on what this debate on the Treasury Laws Amendment (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Bill 2026 and the Superannuation (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Imposition Bill 2026 is really about. This isn’t a narrow, technical adjustment to superannuation settings. This is not a small tweak of superannuation. This is a question of trust with the Australian people.”
Sarah Witty ALP
“Superannuation is not a privilege; it’s a promise. It is the promise that if you spend a lifetime working, contributing, caring and building this country you will not be faced with insecurity at the end of it. That promise was not accidental. It was built.”
Don Farrell ALP
“I move: That these bills be now read a second time. I seek leave to have the second reading speeches incorporated in Hansard. Leave granted. The speech es read as follows— TREASURY LAWS AMENDMENT (BUILDING A STRONGER AND FAIRER SUPER SYSTEM) BILL 2026 Today, we are really proud to be introducing the Treasury Laws Amendment (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Bill 2026 to the House.”
Claire Chandler LIB
“I rise to make a contribution on the Treasury Laws Amendment (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Bill 2026 and the Superannuation (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Imposition Bill 2026. Australians deserve stability in the rules that govern our retirement savings.”
Jane Hume LIB
“I rise also to speak on the Treasury Laws Amendment (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Bill 2026 and the Superannuation (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Imposition Bill 2026. But, before I get into that, I do want to say I think that that contribution by Senator McKim belled the cat for all of us.”
Tammy Tyrrell ALP
“I’ll be supporting this bill because it makes our super system fairer and helps reduce inequality. Superannuation is one of the best things Australia has ever done. It means ordinary workers can retire with dignity after a lifetime of hard work. But, like any system, it has to keep evolving to stay fair. This bill makes a simple and sensible change.”
Paul Scarr LIB
“I’m delighted to have the opportunity to speak in relation to this bill, the Treasury Laws Amendment (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Bill 2026. The first point I want to make is in relation to some egregious components of this legislation as it was originally presented to the parliament. There were two in particular.”
Maria Kovacic LIB
“The coalition stands for lower taxes, lower inflation and lower interest rates. It was coalition and community pressure that forced this Albanese Labor government to abandon taxation of unrealised gains and their indexation freeze.”
Ellie Whiteaker ALP
“Labor believes that Australians should earn more and keep more of what they earn.”
Helen Polley ALP
“I rise this evening to speak in support of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Bill 2026 and the associated Superannuation (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Imposition Bill 2026.”
Lisa Darmanin ALP
“It gives me real pleasure to rise in support of these bills, the Treasury Laws Amendment (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Bill 2026 and the Superannuation (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Imposition Bill 2026. I would like to talk about a lot of things, but I’ll keep it as short as I can.”