Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to Senator Coonan, Minister representing the Assistant Treasurer. Is the minister aware that the spokesman for the Treasurer is quoted in yesterday’s Australian Financial Review as saying that the government believed that the existing law was sufficient to regulate Westpoint-style schemes? Is the minister also aware of ASIC’s consistent claims that they have no power to protect investors in such schemes due to loopholes in the Corporations Act? Given the difference of opinion between the government and its watchdog—which potentially means that ASIC could have acted before the Westpoint collapse—can the minister advise who she thinks is correct? Can the minister also explain why the government still has not fixed the loophole that led to massive losses for 4,000 Australian small investors when Westpoint collapsed?