Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

The government is committed to responsible economic management. It is committed to working out how we can assist working Australians, working families and those who are doing it tough and are under financial pressure right now and how we can plan for Australia’s long-term economic future. Part of planning for our long-term economic future means moving forward on the whole regulatory agenda. If there was one loud and clear signal which came forward from the 2020 Summit from those in the business community it was this: they want Australia to move in the direction of a seamless national economy. They are expecting leadership from the national government on moving in the direction of a seamless national market.

One of the areas where we can make progress is the financial services sector. My colleague the Minister for Small Business, Independent Contractors and the Service Economy who has responsibility for deregulation, together with the Minister for Finance and Deregulation, is currently working with the states and territories on 27 items of legislation in order to deal with the regulatory complexity which currently confronts businesses operating in multiple state and territory jurisdictions and, as a consequence, to do what we can to reduce the compliance burden and to reduce the overall cost therefore of running a business across the country.

I draw the House’s attention in particular to the green paper on financial services and credit reform released today by the Treasurer and Minister Sherry, because this is an important step forward in a critical area of necessary regulatory reform—that is, improving the regulation of financial services and credit and also seeking to target unscrupulous practices and to promote competition. For example, right now, under our existing regulatory arrangements, some consumers receive poor or inadequate advice in areas such as mortgage brokering, which may lead to them overextending themselves into debt, paying extortionate fees or being sold an unsuitable product for their circumstances. That is one example. Secondly, some consumers are unknowingly playing Russian roulette when they buy certain financial products like margin loans, because how you purchase a product determines how it is regulated. With such products becoming more mainstream, this is simply not good enough. The problem we have—

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