The shadow treasurer believes less government intervention and more personal responsibility are key to addressing Australia’s economic and social challenges.
In an upcoming ifa podcast, Taylor argues that this principle extends to financial advice as well, noting that empowering professionals, while simultaneously scaling back excessive regulations, is an essential strategy for fostering growth and social progress.
“We do need to scroll back the regulation that is most egregious,” Taylor said.
When asked to comment on the Coalition’s negative perception among advisers due to past events, such as the royal commission, he acknowledged that the party recognises “there had been some overreach”.
“I’m a big believer in getting government out of the way as much as you can,” Taylor said.
“You got to make the case for government to be involved in things, then let people do what they want to do. I’m a huge believer in personal responsibility in allowing professionals to do their job and that ultimately, if they do their job badly, clients will hold them to account and they should.
“I’ve worked in professional services for much of my career, so I understand that dynamic and I think it’s a very powerful one and that’s what we’ve got to get back to. And that does mean scrolling back some of the madness.”
Despite the opposition’s strong criticism of Labor’s handling of financial advice, especially regarding the Quality of Advice Review and its delayed response, Taylor praised the government for making “some” progress in reducing the excessive bureaucracy that had spiralled “completely out of control.”
But, he said, “we need a lot more and I’m going to keep advocating for it”.
“I make no apology for that,” Taylor assured.
“If that’s different from what my colleagues have done in the past, so be it. I’m going to do what I think is right and I certainly think getting back to a successful advice sector that Australians can afford is urgent right now.”
Taylor pledged that if the Coalition wins the upcoming federal election, they will fully implement the Quality of Advice Review.
“We’ll get on with that,” he said, adding that “we recognise that that’s the beginning, not the end”.
“There are other important issues that already I’ve been discussing with the industry that have come up, like the extra costs that are being imposed, and so we’re cognisant of that and we’re working our way through that. That’s only something that’s popped up in the last couple of weeks. So, we’ll work our way through that as well.”
Coming back to the regulatory overreach, Taylor reiterated: “The commitment on our side, more generally in financial services, is to recognise that there has been regulatory overreach, that we have got a whole group of Australians now that are under-advised, underinsured and underbanked, and that we’ve got to have more accessible financial services and advice if Australians are to have the prosperity they deserve.
“And that means scrolling back some of the madness. And we’ll keep moving down that path and talking with the industry and reengaging, which is what I’ve sought to do.
“I’ve actually enjoyed being in this role for a period of time. Luke [Howarth], of course, will take a bigger role over the next 12 months or so, but it’s given me an opportunity to engage and really get my head around where we need to go. And I recognise there’s wonderful people in the sector wanting to do good work and we’ve got to empower them to do that.”
Tune in to our podcast from this Wednesday afternoon.
Buy this man a beer but it’s way too late. Most likely within the next 10 years we’ll all be working for Communist Super Fund as Qualified Advisers.
The recent requirement to be Registered Advisers, (note waiving of the rego fee in 2024), when we’re already notified ASIC of the authorization and licensing is a classic example of Government overreach. However as more than 50% of working tax payers now work for the public service it’s a little too late to save the Liberal party.
Yes, good points. Haven’t the Liberals held power for 20 of the last 26 years or there abouts? Liberals are IMO part of the problem.
Elections coming up soon…and the liberals think they’re in with a chance so we can expect the same BS promises we got from them the last time they needed our influence with clients.
I don’t trust either of the major parties to implement election promises in respect of financial advisers.
I believe they need to deliver (for advisers) against the government of the day BEFORE the election!
Perhaps the Liberal Party could take some responsibility? Do we need to remind Taylor of the liberals record? Liberals had power most of the time in the last 20 years – no thanks mate not again.
I can’t help thinking, this plays into union run industry super hands too. First kill the industry, then relax regulations, then allow superfunds and the like to give advice again with little or no accountability. Some of us like giving advice to mum and dads. Some of us don’t get inspired to make the rich richer.
The major parties both use the ‘less regulation’ in opposition, but pile on the burdens once in government.
The industry needs to lobby the cross bench to get anything like a fair outcome.
Good point, both parties guilty of the above.
Until there are actions these are just more words of promise and trust me from Angus Taylor a politician from a party that instigated many of the BS regulations we now have when they were in government!
Most advisers are well and truly sick of this which is like being caught in a never ending twilight saga.
One day maybe someone in Canberra will stop talking and making hollow promises and actually take some actions to help make advice more affordable for Australians.
Until then what used to be a wonderful profession to work in will continue to wither and die a slow and painful death but I guess that suits the agendas of many others just fine what an absolute shame that is! Don’t even get me started on the professional BS artist named Stephen Jones!
Qualified advisers will help make advice more accessible, especially via superfunds. Both parties committed to this now which is a win.
“Personal responsibility” belongs to generations gone by. Replaced by DEI, ESG and woke ideologue, No chance Angus.
Unless the ANNUAL Fee Renewal Forms are eliminated (that do NOT EXIST in any other nation on earth), nothing will improve for providing cost-affordable retail advice for consumers.
Ok – I 100% agree with the above and will vote for a sensible government – if what the above is true. Just do not be talking BS to get elected – we all know politicians lie to get elected but guess what – of the people I speak to there is a lot of – I don’t like any of them as they only care about themselves, they lie so the communication can’t be trusted, they show poor character – self-absorbed in their inflated self-worth, they are not giving consistent messages and they are totally incompetent in understanding what is important for this country. I never talk about politics but it’s never been this bad. There is no leadership. Not only does the government need to back off – it needs to make up for all the pain it’s caused financial advisers in the past decade and esp the recent past that saw over 10,000 leave the industry – some due to rule changes that the government has now backed down from. People have lost their business – their retirement nest egg because the government wanted them to get a degree by 2025 even though they had decades of experience. These guys left and then the idiots in control made up new rules that said experience did count. We’d been telling the government they should take this into account for years and they did not listen. If the liberals get in, they better make up for this as they are part of the problem as well. It’s not just labour. There is no leadership in Australia anymore.
100% correct, politics has never been this bad, there is no leadership. There was a great interview recently with a retiree tourist from Switzerland who has been travelling to Australia for over the last 15 years and his comments echoed the above. He said in Switzerland the electorate does not tolerate poor performers in Govt. they dump them before they can inflict any damage.
“Taylor pledged that if the Coalition wins the upcoming federal election, they will fully implement the Quality of Advice Review.”
Err, does he even understand the issues advisers are talking about, and the issues advisers had with the QAR? Having said that, it would still be a positive compared to the performance of Mr Jones and his version of the QAR reform.
No Soa would mean more impetus on professional judgement. Certain improvement over Jones just increasing taxes and funding to be poorly regulated and over policed
Moreso referring to the whole Super Funds providing advice scenario being proposed. Agree on your comment about SoAs.
Agree super funds providing advice is the best change to advice in 20 years, will bring advice to the masses.
It’s not advice since it will clearly be conflicted and restricted…
Entirely sensible. Got my vote and my clients, Jones has done nothing but make things worse, more expensive and allow ASIC and AFCA to bully our profession while increasing their taxes and keeping the proceeds of litigation. TIME FOR A CHANGE!
We had 9 years of advice getting worse and covered in red tape with those clowns at the helm
Regarding the $2.7b lost to scams, the government should embark on an advertising campaign, including financial institutions, to advise how not to be scammed.
When a scammer calls, pretending to be your bank and asking for information about your bank details and PINs, it’s important to remember that your bank already has this information and can access your account. Don’t be so gullible, and do not provide any information about your bank accounts to anyone. Report such incidents to Scamwatch; you’re protecting yourself and helping others avoid falling victim to scams. <https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/>
There should be less compliance. For example, solicitors provide you with a statement of legal advice between 70 and 120 pages long. If they did, legal fees would increase substantially. Solicitors usually charge $330 per hour. What would be the additional cost if you charge for your SOA at $330 per hour?
Commissions from fund managers should be reinstated. Then you could provide financial advice for free to your clients.
Spending $400,000,000 telling people they have a lower tax cut than they expected is more important, or so it would seem…
But we all know this is using the public purse to fund their own advertisinf for the upcoming election.
$40,000,000 (Correction)
More of the same rhetoric. As a rusted on liberal voter i am conflicted by the core beliefs versus the disconnect by its leaders.
QAR was driven by lawyers and instos who want less flexibility and more vertical integration. Just line up deep pockets to contribute to the odd consumer reimbursement roadshow, and re-election funding.
Not convinced the Libs have learned anything by these statements.
100% Agree. All of Canberra are a lost cause to Real Advisers.
– QAR institigated by LNP after 9 years of Frydenbergs Kill Adviser campaign, becuase they new Advisers were against them in a tight election and QAR was led by a Institutional Product Lawyer to open the door to allow the Banks & Life Companies to FLOG PRODUCT.
– ALP & Jonesy have taken QAR and wanted to twist it so their funders the Industry Super Funds could FLOG PRODUCT.
Canberra’s mad bureaucracy of ASIC, AFCA, FARSEA, APRA etc are now owned and run by Industry Super and will continue to do anything Industry Super want. And that continues to be to Kill Real Advisers.
Maybe the only solution is to operate illegally ?
Very little chance of being caught, no regulatory costs.
Canberra has no interest in letting Real Adviser operate efficiently & fairly.
ASIC don’t seem to care that people operate without a license…
BUT – I did retire recently and although only getting around 6 referrals a year strangely had 8/9 calls within the first 3 weeks of removing myself from the register…
Coincidence, or someone being ‘paid’ to call to see if I was operating unlicenced?
“And that means scrolling back some of the madness. And we’ll keep moving down that path and talking with the industry and reengaging, which is what I’ve sought to do.”
Maybe start by telling ASIC to focus their attention on the $2.7b lost to scams, as well as the unlicensed sector.
absolutely needs to be scrolled back. When you sign up to have a surgery, the surgeon doesn’t prepare 70 page document personalised to each patient, objectively the stakes are far higher in those circumstances. We’ve raised the barrier to entry and the standards of the profession, it’s now time to start significantly reducing that compliance burden that was there to protect consumers when the barrier to entry were far lower.
This is spot on.
A surgeon is less likely to steal your femur than an adviser is to steal your super
Are you seriously arguing the medical profession is more honest than the financial advice profession? Having worked in both fields, I can tell you that financial advisers are far more honest and ethical than doctors and surgeons. Surgeon’s overcharge, over service, cover up their mistakes and many of them do little to keep up with the latest research and technology. There is little documentation, no AFCA, no annual audits. It’s like the wild west. When something goes wrong, it’s your word against theirs. Vested interests like to have a crack at financial planners, but in reality, consumers are extremely well served by our profession. It’s just a pity the over-the-top red-tape is pricing most Australian’s out of the market.
Only today I read of an investigation into the hospitals & surgeons charging exhorbitant amounts directly to Medical Funds and then suggesting (when patients queried) that patients shouldn’t be concerned about this bill as they werent paying it…
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-01/medical-bills-reveal-fraud-and-exploitation-of-medicare/103784522
Angus Taylor has hit the nail on the head. My vote is to who can fix the “hot mess” and Jones has blown his chance, goodbye Jones.
Goodbye Jones, goodbye Albo.