Labor’s corporate housing dream comes to life

SENATOR ANDREW BRAGG

Shadow Minister for Productivity and Deregulation

Shadow Minister for Housing and Homelessness

Liberal Senator for New South Wales

STATEMENT

13 August 2025

Labor’s corporate housing dream comes to life

It’s official. Labor’s housing priority is for big super funds like Cbus (owned by the CFMEU) to be Australia’s landlords.

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Today’s announcement that ASIC are commencing a targeted review to boost investment in property by Australia’s superannuation funds is deeply disturbing.

This consultation, commissioned by ASIC at the behest of the Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Housing Minister Clare O’Neil, seeks to prioritise the interests of big super funds in Australian housing over those of every day Australians.

The Australian people want to live in their own home, not a home owned by big super.

This review is also an unconscionable distraction from ASIC’s main game: being a corporate cop.

As it stands, ASIC is presiding over a massive consumer failure with huge losses being faced by investors in Shield, First Guardian and Lion.

They have now been asked to divert resources to the government’s political and financial interests - the big super funds.

This is a cruel and ugly directive to the thousands of Australians who have lost everything because of lax law enforcement.

None of this is a surprise.

Jim Chalmers went overboard to stop public access to a secret communication from Cbus to his office in 2022.

On 6 November 2023, Jim Chalmers signed a fraudulent public interest immunity claim to block an Order of the Senate requiring publication of documents related to Cbus.

In the Treasurer’s letter to the Senate, he said disclosure “would provide an unfair insight into CBUS’ private opinions” and “would have the potential to damage their commercial affairs”.

He sought a “commercial-in-confidence” public interest immunity exemption.

The trouble is that there was no commercially sensitive information.

The Information Commissioner threw out Chalmers’ ridiculous claim.

They revealed Cbus was lobbying the Treasurer to remove the regulatory requirement to include stamp duty in their fees and costs disclosures because it acts as a “barrier to institutional investment in Australian property”.

Australians do not want to live in a home owned by the CFMEU.

According to the secret brief provided to the Treasurer, Cbus doesn’t want to disclose stamp duty costs, which allow consumers to compare fees and costs across super funds.

They wanted an exemption so Cbus wouldn’t have to show their stamp duty costs on property.

Why did Jim Chalmers try so hard to cover up this document?

Why did he lie to the Senate?

The reason is: Labor wants the super funds to own the Australian Dream.

There were no commercial secrets. It was putrid rent-seeking as part of a sick corporate housing agenda which has now been formalised into an ASIC consultation.

Australians should shudder at the thought of what else Cbus and Jim Chalmers are cooking up.

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[Ends]

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