Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

Firstly, I empathise with anyone and everyone that is the victim of somebody who provides bad advice. All of us together, whether that is as policymakers or as industry participants, need to continue to work to lift professional, ethical and educational standards across the financial advice industry. A lot of that work has been happening.

I suspect that the events to which Senator Dastyari refers happened during the period of the previous government. What I am saying is that none of the changes that we are proposing to financial advice laws will in any way reduce consumer protection arrangements that would prevent a more effective regulatory arrangement being put in place. We are keeping the requirement for advisers to act in the best interests of their clients and we are keeping the ban on conflicted remuneration. What we are getting rid of is Labor's additional and unnecessary red tape, which was pushed on them by union dominated industry funds.