Opposition slams QAR response as a super stitch up

In a closed-door meeting on Tuesday morning, Financial Services Minister Stephen Jones unveiled the government’s anticipated response to the Quality of Advice Review (QAR) to a small audience of superannuation fund CEOs and senior industry executives.

Mr Jones revealed the government will accept 14 of the 22 recommendations made by QAR lead Michelle Levy, with the legislative response divided into three streams.

Calling the Labor government “asleep at the wheel”, shadow treasurer Angus Taylor said the QAR response failed to address major challenges to improving access to financial advice for Australians.

“While overdue, the government’s ‘stream one’ 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 in the cold,” Mr Taylor said.

“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 within the financial advice sector and creates an unequal playing field between superannuation funds and the remainder of the financial services sector.

“This is all the more galling due to Assistant Treasurer’s decision to announce the changes in a closed-door meeting of superannuation fund executives.”

The opposition called on the government to adopt in principle all the recommendations of the QAR, and to “work constructively with the Coalition on the implementation”.

“This is a vital deregulation measure that will deliver wins for consumers, support innovation and investment in the financial services sector,” Mr Taylor said.

The shadow treasurer stressed his support for the overall review, calling it a “considered and timely” review that would provide “safer, simpler, and cheaper financial advice to all Australians”.

“Instead, the government has delayed, second guessed the reviewer, and after failing to deliver a response in the budget, delivered a two-page response to what should be a seminal productivity roadmap for our financial advice sector,” Mr Taylor added.

The statements echo the thoughts of former shadow assistant treasurer Stuart Robert, who called the QAR an “outstanding piece of work” when he appeared on the ifa podcast in May.

“It’s one thing for the Labor Party to hold the financial services industry, to hold them at arm’s length, to think little of them, which is what the government does. But it’s another thing to punish everyday Australians by not allowing them to get the advice they need. The government’s got to be better. Minister Jones has got to wake up and implement this,” Mr Robert said at the time.

Following its release on Tuesday morning, industry groups have largely supported the government’s response.

“The government is right to prioritise its ‘stream one’ reforms, which will lower the cost of providing financial advice and improve consumers’ experience when receiving advice,” said Financial Services Council chief executive Blake Briggs.

The Association of Independently Owned Financial Professionals (AIOFP) was also strongly in favour of the response.

“We suggested from the QAR beginning that Minister Jones will cherry pick the ‘no brainers’ and bin the rest, which has happened,” said executive director Peter Johnston in an email to the AIOFP member base made available to ifa.