In a statement on Wednesday, Senator Bragg accused the Minister for Financial Services, Stephen Jones, of making advice more expensive and putting it firmly out of reach of Australians.
“After 18 months of dribbling, Stephen Jones has finally released a draft bill on financial advice,” Senator Bragg said.
“That’s all it is, a draft bill on just half of the recommendations from the Levy review. After 18 months,” he continued.
Senator Bragg is addressing what appears to be a broken promise from Minister Jones. Until this week, Minister Jones had assured that the initial draft bill would strongly emphasise the reduction of red tape. However, the first tranche disregarded a significant burden on advisers: the statement of advice (SOA), which has, over the years, expanded into a document spanning tens of pages.
Additionally, the senator hinted at the possibility that Minister Jones might run out of time and be unable to successfully navigate the entirety of the Quality of Advice Review (QAR) through Parliament.
“Releasing a draft bill at this stage of the term means there will likely be no substantive financial advice reform passed in the life of this Parliament,” he said.
“If Labor was serious about cutting red tape from financial advice, they would prioritise implementing the recommendations of the Levy review, in full.”
Touching also on the ASIC levy, which has nearly doubled, Senator Bragg added that under Mr Jones’s watch, “financial advisers have been hit with the largest tax increase in living memory”.
“Financial advice has never been so unaffordable and it’s getting worse. Australians deserve better.”
Also in response to the draft bill, the Financial Services Council (FSC) chief executive officer, Blake Briggs, called the government’s first tranche “modest” and expressed the view that it represented a “missed opportunity” to initiate crucial reforms.
“It is a missed opportunity to have deferred implementing key recommendations on abolishing the ‘safe harbour steps’ and simplifying statements of advice, which would achieve the most in reducing the regulatory cost burden on financial advice,” Mr Briggs added.
The FSC’s stance is broadly in line with the reaction from other industry bodies and associations. On Tuesday, the Financial Advice Association Australia (FAAA) also noted its concern regarding the exclusion of changes to SOAs and safe harbour.
“We are concerned that the rationalisation of statements of advice and the removal of safe harbour steps from the best interests duty have not been included in the draft legislation at this time,” said FAAA CEO Sarah Abood.
“These are important elements in cutting unnecessary red tape and have the potential to meaningfully reduce the cost of providing advice.
“We will be seeking further clarification from the government on the timeframe for these measures.”
Since 1992, how many years was the Liberal Party in power? Seems Industry Super doesn’t need Labor in power – the Liberals can eliminate Retail Super all on their own. Not sure I need any more – thanks Liberals – I will never vote Liberal again – and am working on others every day.
Typical Labour all hot air, nothing ever changes with this lot, the Scouts and Girl Guides could have responded better than the dribble falling out of Jones mouth, clueless & useless.
A party from the right complaining that a partyn from the left didn’t implement changes to wind back many of the things bought in by the party on the right….all the while the politician from this party was also the head of policy at the peak body that helped the government usher in the changes…
Hard to speak when you have no credibility on the matter.
Amazing stuff. Just keep clients informed I say – thank god for BID ensuring clients are fully informed and understand.
These politicians seem to forget that financial advisers are people, small business owners…and voters.
Both sides of politics and the other minority parties have failed our industry and the consumers.
Consumer organisations like “Choice” are self-fulfilling. They do not actually care about the consumer, if they do they fail to understand the landscape of our industry and push for the wrong things under the guise of better outcomes for consumers.
Sadly without proper, meaningful change it will be the death of our industry.
The irony is that both sides of politics want to get their hands on Super for their own purposes. Labour for the Industry funds and for their own infrastructure spending. Liberals for budget deficits. It seems that Canberra are the ones who don’t seem to remember the purpose of superannuation. The current wording of the so called purpose will fail the public.
Andrew Bragg….when you were previously Head of Policy at the FSC you did everything in your power to totally eliminate Risk Insurance commissions, fully supported the failed John Trowbridge model of remuneration and pushed and pushed for either level commission only or a total future elimination of commission altogether.
There are several FSC internal papers that I have copies of that demonstrate you lead an assault upon Risk Insurance Advisers in order to support your Liberal buddies and to be seen as politically correct off the back of the manipulated ASIC 413 Report and their false claims of a massive churning problem, later to be proven as false and admitted to by ASIC at the time.
Please refrain from any further comment in relation to Financial Services legislation whatsoever.
Your credibility and your political party’s credibility is shot to pieces with holes big enough to drive a truck through.
The Liberals did nothing to assist advisers and did everything they could to facilitate a program of dismantling of an industry and small business that were a majority of their own political supporters for many years.
Go away and please do not display your incredulous, egotistical manner regarding this matter ever again.
It’s pathetic at best.
QAR led the horse to water, but the horse does not want to drink … My Microprudential Governance model requires (bottom up) advisers to tell their professional association what is required, professional associations organise horizontal coordination with regulators to issue appropriate Governance rules, and if the regulators (ASIC APRA) make a mess of it, then associations complain to Treasury for corrections by regulators. Hon Jones Finance Minister has proven that Macroprudential vertical hierarchical top down has failed again. Politicians over the last 20 years have not cognised Microprudential Regulatory Industry Governance. Former ASIC Chair, Tony D’Alisio rejects horizontal coordination with professional associations claiming it would affect ASIC’s independence. Why is ASIC’s independence more important than functional Governance for effectiveness and efficiency in the clients’ best interests ?
Sorry Senator Bragg,
your side of the political divide O’Dwyer and the later goon Hume – did their level best to destroy small businesses. Your team actively championed the current bun fight – if not the very architects. No argument that you have been played by the heavily left leaning APRA and ASIC and Treasury minions – but your team championed and orchestrated the near on destruction of the advice industry at affordable rates – it is as if you have only just come alive to the fact that the whole purpose of these changes was at the behest of the industry funds and their champions the labor party. no amount of posturing from the sidelines is going to change that.
Doesn’t mean he is not right with current state of QAR.
And how about the LIF joke that the Liberals oversaw? Just shows that whichever side of politics happen to be in power make decisions that don’t reflect the wishes of the people working at the coal face with the end result being what we have now which is a hot mess of potpouri and layer upon layer of bad regulations that add no value but just increase costs for everyone.
The best idea would be to throw it all out and start again with a blank canvas which I think could be fixed in a day given so many smart minds are still working hard as advisers around Australia as well as many others who have recently left after many years of graft looking after clients. Unfortunately given all of the various agendas at play I doubt this will ever happen…
“No argument that you have been played by the heavily left leaning APRA and ASIC and Treasury minions…”
Funny thing is, Treasury said nothing about PWC during the Royal Commission, ASIC (Shipton et al) had some sort of hand in the cash tin with tax bills and rents if I recall and Scotty and Josh held back a report???
Could have all been so much different but it seems the Liberals wanted to protect them – and so here we are.
No thanks Bragg – missed the boat mate.
HNW, all the way. No SOA, no FDS, No ROA, No headaches, No hard-sell, No competition.
Retail clients: good luck with the backpackers from Ghostplus Super fund… they’ll keep you in your place.
As apposed to the great things the Coalition did to improve advice during their time in Government?
I agree for the most part, but the Coalition did instigate the QoAR, appoint Levy and commit prior to losing the election
Very easy to commit to anything when you know you will lose.
I agree. Advice is going to become MORE expensive. My fees are going up by CPI plus 5% 1 January 2024 in anticipation of these changes and also to recompense for any time spent adjusting. This is ridiculous. FAAA, where are you ?????
Some of these big Industry Groups simply are doing the bidding of the Industry Super funds. Wakey wakey.
The whole Canberra Pollie & Bureaucratic nightmare of Advice continues.
LNP, ALP, ASIC, FARSEA have all caused out of control BS, Costly Red Tape rubbish excess over regulation.
Stop ALL pointing fingers at each other.
Stop ALL pointing fingers at Advisers.
ALL actually FIX THE CRAP NOW !!!!