Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

You know what Labor policies I like the most? They're the sorts of policies that are copied from the coalition. This bill is the Treasury Laws Amendment (2023 Measures No. 3) Bill 2023, and it's proof once again that the coalition's plans are commonsense plans for Australia. It's proof that Labor do not have a plan for our economy. While the coalition will be supporting this bill, we support it because many of the reforms contained in this bill are the work of the Liberal and National parties when we were in government.

Not too long ago I hosted the shadow Treasurer for a visit to my electorate in Fisher. We assembled a Fisher industry round table composed of local financial advisers and local financial service professionals. We shared about the strengths and struggles of doing business under this Labor government. Small businesses like David Unwin Accountants, Tax and Audit, Infocus Australia and Wideland brokers. These are hardworking, community-oriented, client-centred firms on the Sunshine Coast, and they are contending with a huge deal more than they were before 22 May.

Australia should be very proud of its strong financial services sector. It is one of the bedrocks of our economy. Its stability and strength is known around the world. Part of this strength comes from nearly a decade of the coalition being in government. We slashed red tape because government shouldn't hold Australians back from achieving. We simplified taxes because government shouldn't complicate business unnecessarily. We invested in vocational and tertiary education in areas like data science, tech and cybersecurity to ensure that our financial services sector is at the cutting edge. At the same time, we implemented landmark transparency and consumer protection measures to protect Australians and their financial interests. We introduced standards for cybersecurity, data protection and verification to boost confidence in the sector in an uncertain world. We remain committed to those objectives and to ensuring that Australians have access to high-quality, affordable financial advice.

Mr Deputy Speaker Buchholz, now that there's been a change of the guard in the chair, I want to just say that a nation's financial success depends to a great extent upon the financial advice that is provided to everyday Australians. I know how difficult life has been for financial advisers, because my own financial advisers in my electorate have told me. They've gone through enormous changes, particularly as a result of the banking and financial services royal commission. A number of them have left the industry because of those reforms. That's sad. We now have far fewer financial advisers in the sector than we did before the royal commission.

Financial advisers bore the brunt of a lot of the recalcitrance and bad actions that were undertaken, particularly by the big four banks. The big four banks were the worst perpetrators in relation to what was revealed from the royal commission, yet small businesses and small-scale financial advisers seemed to bear the brunt of those recommendations. As a small-business man myself—and I know you were too, Mr Deputy Speaker—it breaks my heart to see that small-business people suffered as a result.

As with all things, the pendulum swings left and right. The reforms that we were going to introduce and that now are contained in this bill seem to impact upon that pendulum. They are reasonable reforms, and I'll talk about that in a moment. We support the measures in this bill, but I'm very concerned that Labor don't seem to be really committed to good-quality reforms in the financial services sector. I spoke earlier about the importance of the financial services sector. The last thing we want, as a country, is for financial advisers to be available only to the rich. The more warnings and the more disclaimers there are—these legal documents end up looking like a phone book, for those of us who remember those; the member for Casey probably doesn't know what a phone book was—it's been proven time and again, and as a barrister I can tell you, the less notice is taken of it. The more warnings, the more disclaimers and the more you make red tape for the punters—they don't take any notice of it. Where those reforms that were introduced as a result of the royal commission made life so difficult for financial advisers, it was appropriate and timely that some of those things got cleaned up. The last thing we want to do is enable only the uber rich to get financial advice. It's average mums and dads that need that advice and that support. If obtaining that advice becomes so costly that average people can't afford to get it, then it becomes self-defeating.

We in the opposition are particularly supportive of schedule 2 in this bill, which will help make it easier for financial advisers with good records to remain eligible to provide personal advice. The Levy review on quality of advice, which the coalition has supported in principle, has broad support across the sector. The government's response has been less than half-baked. It's not an attempt at solving the issues identified but at appearing like they care. But that's Labor's way: they talk the talk and pretend like they care, but actions speak louder than words. While overdue, the government's stream 1 reforms are welcome. However, without accepting the longer term agenda, the government is only kicking the can down the road, meaning that Australians will struggle to find the right kind of financial advice. At the same time, advisers working outside the superannuation system will be thrust into the cold. The response to the Levy review was an important moment and an opportunity to drive better outcomes for retirees, particularly self-funded retirees. They don't have the privilege of a pension. They require their money to go a long way, perhaps four decades, and it is incredibly important that self-funded retirees have access to that specialist financial advice.

Labor haven't bothered to implement the review in a fulsome way. Their narrow implementation, though a tiny step in the right direction, risks undermining investment, innovation and competition in the financial advice sector, creating an equal playing field between super funds and the rest of the sector. Financial advisers in my electorate have repeatedly raised concerns about this issue. The coalition is calling on the Albanese government to adopt in principle all the recommendations of the Levy review and to work constructively with the coalition on its implementation. This is a vital deregulation measure that will deliver wins for consumers as well as support innovation and investment in the financial services sector.

But this bill is no substitute for the government's incompetence, ignorance and indifference when it comes to managing our economy. After a year of having Labor in control, Australia's economy is weaker, our communities are struggling and households are at their wit's end. The March quarter annual accounts showed that economic growth is at the slowest rate since September 2021, and that was mid COVID lockdowns. I imagine Labor's Treasury ministers sitting around scratching their heads and asking themselves, 'Why is the economy slowing down?' It's not slowing down; it's shuddering to a halt.

This bill contains measures which are worthwhile, but it does nothing to address the biggest challenge facing Australians, who are contending with rising mortgage payments and grappling with rising prices at the check-out. Energy prices are up. The cost of travel is only getting worse. Core inflation is higher than in almost all other G7 nations, lifting to as high as 7.8 per cent in the last nine months and currently sitting at nearly double where it was 18 months ago. Two major banks are forecasting per capita recessions. More rate rises are set to come. Australia's economy is weaker under Labor, and households are feeling it. Australians are saving less money, almost 7.6 per cent lower than a year ago. Australians have been taxed over 11 per cent more in the last 12 months. While Australians are working the most hours since 1978—in nearly half a century—they are keeping less of their money and delivering lower outcomes. That's right: productivity under Labor has fallen by nearly five per cent. Australians are working harder for less. They're working harder for less money, for less purchasing power, for fewer results. The coalition, when we were in government and now in opposition, are listening to those hard-working Australians. We hear middle Australia. We have their back, the same back on which this callous and careless Labor government is trying to balance the books of its union paymasters.

Australian families and their businesses are not a blank cheque from which Labor can draw funds for another policy experiment. Families are hurting. They need good quality financial advice. Businesses are hurting. They also need good quality financial advice. Communities are hurting thanks to this federal Labor government, and it is entirely avoidable. Don't swallow the argument about the financial problems coming out of Moscow. Don't follow that they are coming out of Ukraine. They are coming out of Canberra, out of this place. Our economic regress is only happening because Labor have no plan to address inflation. They have no plan to curb the cost-of-living crisis which they have so ably created. Labor's approach to managing our economy is to open the purse strings and spend and spend and spend while punishing people for trying to make their own money. It's big spend and big tax. It's cuts, cuts, cuts to essential services like veterans' wellbeing centres, mental health care and medical access in regional communities. It's slash, slash, slash when it comes to roads and rail in regional and remote Australia. While Labor arrogantly struts through the corridors of power, Australians are struggling to make ends meet. Enough is enough.

Naturally, we also support the technical changes that schedule 4 of this bill provides for in relation to the First Home Super Saver Scheme. This is an initiative of the former coalition government that helps Australians boost their savings for a first home by allowing them to build a deposit inside superannuation, giving them a tax cut. Freedom over your super, cutting taxes and making homeownership possible—that is the Liberal and National way. The First Home Super Saver Scheme could boost the savings of a first home buyer by around 30 per cent compared with saving through a standard savings account. This was just one of the measures of the former coalition government that was aimed at helping Australians get into their first home. It was supported by HomeBuilder, our response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was backed in by the first home guarantee and then the family home guarantee for single parent families and the regional home guarantee for regional communities. This opposition believes in homeownership.

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