Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I should start by clarifying that the Financial Sector Reform (Hayne Royal Commission Response—Stronger Regulators (2019 Measures)) Bill 2019, despite its name, has very little to do with the Hayne royal commission. In fact, this bill implements recommendations from the ASIC Enforcement Review Taskforce from two years ago, but it's been dressed up to look as though the government is taking action following the royal commission.

It is a year since the release of the Hayne royal commission report, and it is deeply shameful that in the past year the government has implemented only six of the 76 recommendations. During the royal commission, we heard stories of everyday Australians being exploited by the banks. A couple was given bad advice that saw them lose their family home. Fees were knowingly charged to people who had passed away. There are instances of discrimination against a person with a disability. In his interim report, Commissioner Hayne stated that the main reason for this behaviour was greed, the pursuit of short-term profit at the expense of basic standards of honesty. The horrific stories that surfaced in the royal commission and Hayne's report have demonstrated that much needs to be changed to restore Australia's confidence in the financial sector. But this government has done very little to deliver the long-overdue legislative response needed to protect Australians. In a similar vein, the government has taken over two years to implement the findings of the ASIC Enforcement Review Taskforce, which reported on its findings back in 2017. This task force was established to review the enforcement tools available to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and assess the suitability of the existing regulatory tools they use to perform their functions.

This bill implements the remaining recommendations of the ASIC Enforcement Review Taskforce report in four schedules. Schedule 1 of the bill contains amendments which enhance and modernise the search warrant powers. This schedule will ensure ASIC has consistent search warrant powers across the legislation where it has specific enforcement responsibility, and it recognises the role technology plays in the communication of information. Schedule 2 of the bill contains amendments which allow ASIC to receive telecommunications intercept material to investigate and prosecute serious offences. It's important to note that it will not expand the range of offences for which telecommunications intercept warrants can be sought. Schedule 3 of the bill contains amendments which strengthen ASIC's licensing powers and the offences for false and misleading documents, and schedule 4 of the bill contains amendments which extend ASIC's banning powers to ban individuals from managing financial services businesses. Labor will be supporting this bill.

Jane Hume (Victoria, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Superannuation, Financial Services and Financial Technology) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

First I would like to thank those senators who have contributed to this debate. The government is committed to implementing a comprehensive response to the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry, which is set out in its Financial Services Royal Commission Implementation Roadmap. The Financial Sector Reform (Hayne Royal Commission Response—Stronger Regulators (2019 Measures)) Bill 2019 is an important step in delivering the response by implementing the recommendations of the ASIC Enforcement Review Taskforce to ensure that regulators have the resources and powers that they need to strengthen their approach to enforcement and supervision. These reforms build on the substantial steps already undertaken by the government to protect Australian consumers and deliver on its commitment to implement the recommendations of the royal commission. I commend this bill to the Senate.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.