Deborah O'Neill (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to make a contribution on the Treasury Laws Amendment (2023 Measures No. 3) Bill 2023. The purpose of this bill is to improve the integrity of consumer markets for credit products. It is also to remove barriers for financial advisers and, further, to support competition in the provision of clearing and settlement services for cash equities. I recall the time before I was in the parliament, when I would be listening to the radio as I drove from place to place, hearing debates on all sorts of issues, and I realised how educative it is sometimes to hear debates about matters that you think would have no impact on your life, and then suddenly you realise that what is going on in the parliament does impact your life. That is why today I want to frame my contribution in the context of everything that happens at the Australian Stock Exchange is not something that is a long distance away from Australians' financial reality. The exchange provides for the functioning of the economy and the functioning of the markets in a way that allows profits for companies that are carrying the investment of Australians' superannuation. I begin my contribution on what might be described as a rather dry bill by framing it in that context: this, potentially, has real, material impact on the lives of Australians if we do our work carefully and well here in the parliament.

What is proposed in schedule 3 of the bill is an amendment to the Corporations Act, the Competition and Consumer Act and the ASIC act to facilitate competitive outcomes in the provision of clearing and settlement services for the Australian financial markets. In the course of hearings of both the Economics Legislation Committee and the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services, of which I'm chair, we took considerable evidence about the impact of a lack of competition in this space and the importance of bringing forward the opportunity for the embedding of better processes to allow for the clearing and settlement of transactions in the Australian financial market. There are a number of amendments in this bill that will provide ASIC with powers to implement and enforce requirements for a monopoly provider of a clearing and settlement service to operate in a way that does achieve a competitive outcome, and also to ensure safe and effective competition in clearing and/or settlement should a competitor emerge.

As I said, the importance of superannuation financial markets to all Australians is something that we should never, ever lose sight of. The financial engagement that every Australian has through their superannuation and the superannuation companies that invest on their behalf is truly remarkable. The fiscal sustainability of our nation is actually built on the ability of workers to save parts of their income and grow that nest egg to support them well in their retirement. Against a demographic crunch taking place across the Western world, when we've seen a much higher taxation burden falling on an ever-shrinking working-age population, superannuation is going to be even more important in the coming years. I'll add that it's an incredible Labor legacy that would not otherwise exist. It was decried absolutely by representatives on the other side of this chamber, who saw no point in superannuation—