Stuart Robert (Fadden, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I will go back to the Assistant Treasurer. He took initiative. That is very dangerous from my point of view. The Assistant Treasurer tried to do a deal with the Greens. In fact, the Greens said he did a deal. He was agreeing to their demand to increase fines associated with this legislation so the Greens would continue to support his desire to hide how much Labor and the unions rake in from super funds. It was a dodgy deal that was not done cheaply. In fact, it blew up in the Assistant Treasurer's face. His masters, the Prime Minister and the Treasurer, didn't agree—quite rightly—so he had to renege on the deal. Now the Greens, like the rest of the country, don't trust the Assistant Treasurer.

The Assistant Treasurer tried to hide how the average Australian's hard-earned savings are being spent on funding Labor and the unions. He tried to allow super funds to act in the interests of the fund managers, not the Australians whose savings are being looked after for retirement. He did everything he possibly could for the union super trustees—everyone except those he needed to help: Australians, who deserve the best return for their investment in super. In the end, every single member of the House and the other place, bar Labor members, voted against what the Assistant Treasurer was doing on the transparency measures for super.

Well, the leash has tightened. We're now told the poor, hapless Assistant Treasurer can't even leave the ministerial wing without letting the Prime Minister or the Treasurer's office know. The AFR article goes on:

Jones' priorities in office have been nothing short of bewildering, such as bending over backwards for small superannuation funds like the $3.6 billion First Super, chaired by CFMEU heavy Michael O'Connor, which celebrated the Assistant Treasurer's planned review of regulatory attempts to kill off small funds (First Super's $10.8 million in non-donation and non-gift payments to political entities over three years most certainly played no part in such a move!).

The article concludes with this:

In case Anthony Albanese—

I'm quoting, Madam Deputy Speaker—

is serious about protecting the country's best financial interests, we're glad to assist in pointing out who are his assets and who are his liabilities.

I don't think there are any assets, but certainly the Assistant Treasurer is a massive liability.

All these months later, here we are back in the House dealing with the same legislation—bills that should have been dealt with a year ago because the opposition gave them bipartisan support. I've been here for 15 years. I can't think of a single other bill where the opposition has given unqualified bipartisan support and a government minister has managed to stuff up so badly that the House has had to come back to deal with the bill a second time. It certainly is a record of incompetence that I don't think has been surpassed.

We have a strong financial services sector in Australia. It's one of the bedrocks of this country, and we want it to remain that way. It's been remarkably strong over the last decade and, as my colleague the member for Hume said:

We will not delay the progress of these bills through the parliament … But we must note … the government's continued mismanagement of its legislative agenda … its broken promises on tax and superannuation and its failure to respond to the challenges that Australians are facing every day.

… Whilst our financial services system has served us well, we can't ignore that the royal commission was necessary. We called it—the coalition called it. We committed to implementing its recommendation to take action on all of the 76 recommendations and additional commitments contained in the final report of that royal commission. Significant progress has been made, and the long road to implement these changes is now reaching its conclusion. With the re-introduction of these bills, the last of the legislative commitments to implement the royal commission's recommendations will indeed be completed. The coalition welcomes the introduction of and the government's decision to retain the primary Financial Accountability Regime and the compensation of last resort legislation, largely in the same shape and form.

I have a couple of comments on the financial services compensation scheme of last resort. We introduced this legislation to facilitate the payment of compensation to eligible consumers who have received a determination from the Australian Financial Complaints Authority, AFCA, which remains unpaid. This forms part of the final tranche of the legislation to implement recommendations of the royal commission. But there's a key part missing. Part of the Hayne commission recommended commissioning a review into the quality of financial advice …

That review was commissioned by our government and is now gathering dust somewhere in this hapless Assistant Treasurer's office.

Australia is in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. The cost of everything is going through the roof. Being able to plan for your financial future right now is more important than ever. For over 50 days, this government sat on a review with recommendations that, if implemented, would make obtaining financial advice easier, cheaper and better for Australians. Not least, it would make the financial services industry better. Financial advice professionals deserve to be able to work in the best interest of Australians without one hand being tied behind their back through overburdening regulation.

The Labor government, when in opposition, used to literally scream at the previous government about releasing reports. The Hayne royal commission report, they said, 'must be released immediately'. We took 2½ days over the weekend to look at it and released it the following Monday. This Labor government took 50 days to consider the report of the Quality of Advice Review, the Levy report, only to release it and then announce that they were going to consult on the consultation. 'Hypocrisy' doesn't even come close to describing the actions of this government when it comes to these key areas of recommendation from the Hayne royal commission. We don't even have a time frame for this consultation on a consultation or when it will end. Both financial advice professionals and Australians enduring a living crisis are crying out for reforms and cheaper financial services advice.

I have already informed the government that the coalition will support legislation to implement the reforms in full as recommended right now. The government needs to get on with it. By delaying the implementation of Dr Levy's recommendations, the Assistant Treasurer and this government are denying Australians the opportunity to seek affordable, quality advice at a time when Australians are already finding it tough to meet cost-of-living challenges. This is, frankly, the Labor government squibbing it. The Assistant Treasurer is seeking consultations upon consultations. As we have seen since the Assistant Treasurer started in this job, everything he touches stuffs up. If he can't get on with the job of delivering for Australians, and not for those masters in the union movement, it is time the Prime Minister stepped in and put in someone competent who can.

Australians need financial advice now more than ever. The reason is that promises are being broken by this government. The Prime Minister has already broken a promise not to touch super. What's next? How about tax on your family home? The Treasurer didn't rule it out initially, which caused the Prime Minister to step in, on interview, to clean up the mess. How can everyday Australians trust this mob? Labor have already broken one promise not to raise taxes. Who's to say that, having crossed the Rubicon, they won't do it again? These broken promises go to the integrity of this government that would say one thing crystal clear before the election and the complete opposite when they came in. It is Peter Garrett-esque: 'Once we're in, we'll change it all.' Australians are right to be wondering what Labor will tax next. How can Australians trust the government when they say one thing before an election and do something diametrically opposite so soon after?

We will not deny this bill a second reading. We call on the House, clearly, to recognise the mismanagement of this bill, the government's dishonesty with the Australian people and the need for the government to commit to reducing pressure on inflation not only by controlling its own spending and by not taxing Australians more but by getting on with legislating the Levy review so Australians can have cheaper access to financial services. I support the amendment moved by the member for Hume and commend the bill to the House.

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