Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Hansard source

The coalition will be supporting the Treasury Laws Amendment (2023 Measures No. 3) Bill 2023. This is a four-schedule Treasury omnibus bill, and many of the changes in this bill continue the work of the former coalition government. However, support for the passage of this bill is by no means an endorsement of this government's economic plan, a plan that is clearly failing Australians. It is by no means an endorsement of a government that is refusing to take responsibility for high inflation, rising mortgage payments, rising prices at the check-out and rising energy bills, just to name a few. The challenges faced by Australians are not addressed in this bill.

The bill makes changes that are largely technical in their nature to credit facilities, financial advice regulation, clearing and settlement services and the First Home Super Saver Scheme. Schedule 1 introduces new rules that prohibit schemes designed to avoid the application of product intervention orders made under part 7.9A of the Corporations Act 2001 in relation to credit facilities. Schedule 2 changes limitations in the education requirements for new entrants into the financial advice profession and financial advisers who are registered tax agents, and it removes the education requirements for experienced financial advisers with 10 years experience and a clean record who have passed the financial advisers exam. Schedule 3 amends the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001, the Corporations Act 2001 and the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 to facilitate competition in the provision of clearing and settlement services for cash equities traded in Australia. Schedule 4 makes a number of technical changes to the Taxation Administration Act 1953 and the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 to support the operations of the First Home Super Saver Scheme so that it works better for first home buyers. On schedules 2 and 4, I'll make a few more detailed comments.

Australia has a strong financial services sector. It's one of the bedrocks of our economy, and we want it to remain that way. It's been remarkably strong over the past decade. In fact, it served us extremely well through the financial crisis. The coalition remains committed to ensuring that Australians have access to high-quality, affordable financial advice. It's why we welcome the changes made in schedule 2 of this bill. In government, we implemented a series of measures to improve consumer protections and to streamline and strengthen oversight of the financial advice sector, and we support a continuation of that approach. This part of the bill will help to make it easier for financial advisers with good records to remain eligible to provide personal advice. The expansion of personal advice was one of the key recommendations of Michelle Levy's Quality of Financial Advice Review, which the coalition supported in principle, and which has the wide support of the financial advice and financial services sectors.

Unfortunately, the government's response to the Levy review is a half-baked attempt at a solution which fails to address the major challenges to improve access to financial advice for Australians. While overdue, the government's stream 1 reforms are welcome—but the narrow acceptance of the medium-term agenda will leave Australians with less access to financial advice, and advisers working outside the superannuation system were left out in the cold. The response to the Levy review was a key opportunity to drive better retirement outcomes and productivity in the economy, but the government has shied away from making any genuine improvements. Narrowly implementing the Levy review risks undermining innovative investment and product design in the financial advice sector, and creates an unequal playing field between superannuation funds and the remainder of the financial services sector. The coalition is calling on the Albanese government to adopt 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 supporting innovation and investment in the financial services sector.

Schedule 4 of the bill also makes technical changes to the First Home Buyers Super Saver Scheme. This scheme was an initiative of the former coalition government and is helping Australians to boost their savings to buy their first home by allowing them to build a deposit inside their superannuation. For most people, the scheme could boost the savings of a first homebuyer by almost 30 per cent compared with savings through a standard savings account. This was just one measure of the former coalition government that was aimed at helping Australians to get into their first home. The coalition is absolutely committed to helping more Australians achieve the dream of owning their own home.

But, despite containing some positive measures, this bill does not address the No. 1 issue facing Australians, and that is the cost of living. The impact of inflation and rising interest rates is being felt by businesses and families across the community. Rising mortgages, rising prices at the check-out and rising energy bills are all eating away at already-tight household budgets. Australians are having to work more hours to make ends meet, they're having to dig into their savings to make ends meet and our core inflation is higher than for any G7 nation except the United Kingdom. Core inflation is still almost double the higher threshold of where inflation should be, at 5.8 per cent. Tomorrow we will see in the nation's account how poorly the economy is performing under this government. Economists are not ruling out a per capita recession and many economists are predicting that there will be further interest rate rises to come this year.

This is a tough time for Australians and this bill does nothing to address those problems. Despite this, the coalition will support the passage of this bill.