I speak on behalf of the thousands of Australians, including a number in and around my community, who have lost their life savings through the collapse of the First Guardian Master Fund. This is not an isolated incident. We have seen a pattern of similar failures over the past half a century or so that have left ordinary Australians high and dry. Every time, despite best intentions and regulatory reform, the mice find their way back around the maze. The First Guardian Master Fund, marketed as a high-growth superannuation investment, attracted $590 million from over 6,000 Australians. It was offered through well-known superannuation platforms like Netwealth, Diversa and OneVue, and appeared to meet all the formal requirements. It had a licensed manager, a product disclosure statement and was promoted by financial advisers. But what has now been uncovered is both devastating and a scandal.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission alleges that over $274 million in receivables were not realisable. At least $5.6 million was transferred to the personal accounts of directors, and a $548,000 Lamborghini was repossessed as part of the liquidation process. We often talk about numbers, but we should never forget the people. Kathy, a nurse from Wagga Wagga, invested $370,000 of her retirement savings. She now faces the prospect of working well into her seventies. Ali, a Western Sydney small business owner, lost over $400,000 after being steered into the fund by an adviser. One example I am personally aware of involves a working mother who was advised to put 100 per cent of her superannuation into this so-called "growth fund". That advice has left her with a tenuous and uncertain retirement.

These are not reckless investors. These are hardworking people who trusted the system and trusted the advisers, the platforms and the regulators, and they have been massively let down. In the past decade, following the banking royal commission, successive Federal governments have introduced measures such as the design and distribution obligations, new financial adviser education standards and trustee accountability mechanisms—all meant to prevent consumer abuse. While these reforms improved aspects of the system, especially the professional conduct of financial advisers, they have not stopped all the shonks and spivs seeking high-risk gains off the back of vulnerable Australians. We saw it in the Reid Murray debenture scandal in the '60s, the Cambridge Credit collapse in the '70s and, in more recent times, Sterling First, Dixon Advisory and now First Guardian.

I have written to the Federal Minister for Financial Services, Dr Daniel Mulino, calling for a full parliamentary inquiry into the collapse of the First Guardian Master Fund. That inquiry must examine how First Guardian gained access to mainstream superannuation platforms, why platform trustees failed to act, how financial advisers were incentivised to sell this product despite clear conflicts of interest and how such vast sums—$274 million—were able to be offshored without any serious questions from the banks or the regulator, AUSTRAC. We have seen this cycle too many times—scandal, inquiry, reform, repeat. Still, the life savings of working Australians, including many from my part of the world, are misused and misappropriated.

Having served as a director on an industry super fund, I can say with confidence that the issue is not a lack of regulation. The super industry is already heavily incumbered with red tape. As this scandal shows, much of the regulation introduced by the former Federal Liberal Government is not only burdensome but ultimately ineffective. Let's not forget that while industry funds have consistently delivered better returns and stronger governance, the former Federal Government spent years waging an ideological war against them, all while the retail sector, where First Guardian operated, remained largely unchecked.

I have no doubt if this scandal had emerged from an industry fund or a heavily unionised, working class industry like construction, those opposite and their friends in the media would be calling for administrators, royal commissions and crucifixions at the gates of Trades Hall. Superannuation is more than an investment vehicle. It is the backbone of retirement for millions of Australians. What happened at First Guardian is a betrayal, not just of the individuals who lost their savings but of the system that claimed it was protecting them. The warning signs were there, the commissions were flowing, the red flags were raised, but nothing was done. Regulators must now ensure that the next First Guardian is stopped before it happens, not after.