Senate estimates and super scandals

POLITICO’s Canberra correspondent, and resident Senate estimates enthusiast, Miriam Webber joins Amanda Copp to unpack a week of estimates, including the ATO’s short-lived attempt to stop businesses paying tax by credit card, Defence spending, and public servants’ concerns about privacy. Amanda then takes a look into what’s being described as Australia’s biggest superannuation scandal. She speaks with CHOICE Senior Investigative Journalist, Jarni Blakkarly, and Jessica Spence of Super Consumers Australia about their new podcast, ‘The Collapse’. They discuss how more than 11,000 Australians lost over $1.1 billion, proposed reforms and whether regulators could have acted sooner. Chapters 00:00 – Meet Miriam Weber and the week’s “cheese” debate 01:15 – Senate estimates: the ATO, Defence and the week’s takeaways 02:37 – Public servants push back on clips of hearing evidence 04:03 – Is Senate estimates delivering transparency? 04:59 – The EU trade deal and concerns over cheese and beef 06:46 – The Collapse: the Shield and First Guardian super funds 08:09 – The human cost for investors who lost their super 10:02 – Could investors have spotted the risks? 11:02 – Proposed reforms, compensation and preventing another collapse 13:13 – ASIC’s response and the case for regulatory reform 14:12 – The human stories and restoring trust in super 16:30 – What’s coming up on Canberra Playbook Give us your feedback: Send us a WhatsApp message to +61 494 380 487 or an email at [email protected]. Subscribe to Canberra Playbook: Get POLITICO’s reporting and analysis of Australian politics delivered to your inbox at politico.com/canberra-playbook.