Marielle Smith (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

[by video link] I also rise today to make a short contribution on the Financial Sector Reform (Hayne Royal Commission Response—Better Advice) Bill 2021. Before I begin, I want to associate myself with the remarks of Senator O'Neill and acknowledge Senator O'Neill's incredible advocacy and thoughtful work in this area. She has been a true champion of reform here. Few people understand the details better than Senator O'Neill.

The Hayne royal commission made it absolutely clear that the Australian financial industry, on too many occasions, had failed to adequately serve its customers and, in far too many cases, operated against the best interests of customers. The royal commission rocked Australia, as we knew it would; that's why we called for it. We knew how critical it was that a royal commission investigated these issues.

We knew that consumers and businesses were being impacted by the unscrupulous conduct of actors in this space. They were telling the government this loudly and clearly, and the government ignored them. They voted against establishing a royal commission 26 times. They only capitulated because of pressure from their own backbench, but they voted against this 26 times. We saw dud efforts at reform which didn't work, as they tried to protect an industry which desperately needed scrutiny from that scrutiny.

It's been nearly three years now since Commissioner Hayne handed down his report to the government. Frustratingly, the response has been on the 'go-slow'. We are still dealing with legislation to deal with individual recommendations contained in this report. Indeed, as Senator Sheldon said, this bill deals with just one. It is classic Prime Minister Morrison: too little, too late. He was dragged there too late because he did not care. He did not care—26 times voting against this. The government put protecting Australian consumers on the backburner and dithered in implementing these reforms, just like they dithered in having the royal commission.

Failing to tackle these reforms head-on and urgently has real-world consequences for families. This kind of acting in this space, these behaviours, when families were being ripped off by financial advisers and institutions, tears apart lives. It takes homes away, it takes futures away and it crushes dignity and security in retirement when institutions fail to act in the best interests of their customers. And the consequences are devastating, not just for individual consumers but for businesses—small and medium enterprises who take on risk based on advice, who rely on this advice, who rely on honesty and accuracy in their dealings with these institutions. When these interests aren't protected and those businesses fail, of course it's not just the operators of these businesses who suffer but also the employees who work in them, the employees who rely on these businesses to be successful, because that's how they get their job, that's how they pick up their pay packet at the end of the week as well.

We believe that Australian families and businesses should be able to access financial services and advice confident that the law protects them from being taken for granted by bad actors. We knew this was happening for a long time—that's why we needed the royal commission, that's why we called for it and that's why we fought for it.

I will make the point here that good financial advice really matters. Good financial advice for families can be the difference on delivering their aspirations to them or not. It can be the difference of delivering financial security and the different in delivering dignity and security in retirement or not. It can be the difference between a family being able to own their own home or not. Advice needs to be high quality, it needs to be accessible and it needs to be affordable, and this is the challenge for government, for regulators, so we don't have a situation, which we have seen, where customers are getting costed out of getting advice, costed out of the support they need.

To those in the industry struggling, as Senator O'Neill acknowledged, I want to acknowledge you too—I want to acknowledge the impacts of this government's delay and dithering and dud efforts of reform on your industry and on your work. Those experienced financial advisers who we know do the right thing by their clients deserve clarity, not uncertainty and not unnecessary costs. We need to get this right. We need to get it right for consumers, we need to get it right for those people who have suffered at the hands of unscrupulous actors, we need to get it right for industry. To make sure that it's working, we need regulation that is fit for purpose and that gets this balance right.

The Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, has always—always!—stumped up with too little, too late. We've seen it in the pandemic response, we've seen it on climate change, we've seen it on aged care, we've seen it on early education and care, and we see it crystal clear on this important area of financial sector reform. Never forget he voted against this royal commission 26 times—this critical work which exposed horrific stories from consumers and businesses.

I am pleased that this legislation deals with one of those recommendations. It goes part of the way to getting there, but there is more we need to do to be supporting this sector and to be supporting Australian consumers to make sure that there's a genuine listening to the calls of those who presented to the royal commission, those who have suffered. This is urgent reform work, and please get on with it.