The Morrison government’s superannuation reforms passed Parliament on Thursday, paving the way for the biggest shake-up of the super system in decades, after the government dropped a contentious measure separate to the package’s main goals of eradicating multiple accounts and putting underperforming funds on notice.

Centre Alliance senator Stirling Griff told The Australian Financial Review that the power, which could have given the government sweeping authority to intervene in the core business of super funds, was “excessive and unwarranted and there was no way we would support what was proposed until that was resolved”.