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

Good financial advisers provide an important service to Australians saving for their retirement or managing financial risks through life and help people with their financial health and well-being. They are dealing with other people's money, which is why there ought to be an appropriately robust regulatory framework in place which is not only robust but also efficient and which does not impose unnecessary costs that push up the cost of advice and puts access to high-quality advice beyond reach for too many people across Australia.

What we are about is ensuring that we continue to work with the industry around lifting professional, educational and ethical standards and making sure that the consumer protection requirements that matter are actually enshrined in our regulations and in our legislation. Not every bit of red tape is good for consumers. Where red tape pushes up the cost of advice without actually leading to proportionate improvements in consumer protections, it is actually bad for consumers.