The protracted timeline for the government to implement the recommendations of the Quality of Advice Review (QAR) has become the subject of a rolling clock for the opposition, with shadow financial services minister Luke Howarth arguing in September the clock is ticking for the government to act on the final report, which at the time had sat on Financial Services Minister Stephen Jones’ desk for 650 days.
“Like most of its financial services reform agenda, advice reforms have been left to the last minute and are clearly not a priority for this government,” Howarth said.
During a Senate estimates hearing last week, Senator Andrew Bragg continued his questioning of Treasury on the slow rollout of not just the next stage of Delivering Better Financial Outcomes (DBFO) legislation, but also a range of other measures within the broader financial services portfolio.
Responding to a question about how many people are working within Treasury’s markets group, which is responsible for financial advice, Andre Moore, assistant secretary of the advice and investment branch, noted there are around 270 staff members.
“OK, feels like it’s a bit slow going there,” Bragg said.
“Would you say a lot of projects seem to go there to sort of die or not be progressed?”
Moore said: “We have constraints when it comes to the legislative agenda to have things on there and there are things outside our control.
“Within the group, though, we are also responsible for the things that you’re aware of, where they become the financial system, market conduct, corporations law, competition and consumer policy, the competition task force, [consumer data right] and a range of other things.
“We prioritise those things that are important to the government of the day.”
According to Bragg, the delays extend beyond financial advice and a range of measures feels a “long way away”.
“Is the constraint here the assistant treasurer’s office?” he asked.
Finance Minister Katy Gallagher interjected to disagree with Bragg’s assessment.
“No. I know you’d like to besmirch him every chance you can. He has a very large workload and a very high legislative agenda, probably, I would think next to perhaps the [attorney-general], the biggest legislative agenda,” Gallagher said.
“And there’s constraints, for example, in drafting, resources and other things. And this tends to be … in my experience, these bills are often contested and complex.”
However, Bragg added that he “read in the paper” that the “only way stakeholders can get meetings with him is by going to a Labor Party fundraiser”.
“So, he seems to be a bit of a problem.”
Howarth had previously criticised Jones for “continually scapegoating” its department and blaming a lack of legislative drafters for its shortcomings.
“The Coalition would implement the Levy review in full and, unlike the government, we won’t treat this as the end of the road for deregulation. This is the beginning, not the end for cutting red tape for financial professionals,” he said earlier this year.
Echo chanmber of idiots in here…
Treasury has become a complete basket case, like the rest of the Public Service. These people are on big salaries as well, and they still can’t get their act together because they experience zero accountability. They treat their jobs like retirement on a salary.
270 protected and insular on the gravy train and a Labor Govt ,Trade Union tattooed smiling assassin by the name of Katy Gallagher….the process will be as slow and protracted as they need to make it to ensure all advantages flow their way.
Disgrace.
Talking a big game LNP, yet Frydenberg killed us for 9 years.
Now Jones is proving incompetent at best and ISA corrupted most likely.
Add bureaucrats of ASIC, APRA, FARSEA, AFCA and now CSLR and all we see is ever increasing Red Tape costs.
Wow I wonder why 85% of people can’t afford Real Advice.
Any ideas why Canberra ?
Safe to say, you nailed it for the vast majority of us. We know these bludgers (Paul Keating’s term) have their snouts in the trough and are owned by various entities.
Absolutely. It’s not as though either party has been sensible when it comes to financial advice regulation. They’ve been like kindergarteners making up rules to sound complicated and grown up and then throwing the pieces in the air to go inside for a nap!
A team of over 270 and still closing in on a 3 year timeframe since QAR was released – embarrassing!
How many are moles for Industry Super?
All of them.
And tranche 1 littered with more errors than any Bill tabled. Disgrace and bias Labor ASIC Industry Fund Mafia need to GO
these were not errors they were left in their on purpose….
Treasury costs the taxpayer over $170 million pa (in salaries & super) to operate. Time for the Elon Musk “Govt Efficiency” treatment it appears.
We no longer trust any of you. All of you, constantly pointing fingers at one another to score points. Josh from accounts was just as useless as Jones is.
It’s peculiar how you politicians band together when it benefits you, like when you’re protecting your individual memberships in the Qantas Chairman’s Lounge and remain eerily quiet, despite the damning revelations (in Joe Aston’s book).
Stop using us advisers to score points. We’re much smarter than you think we are and can probably run rings around you muppets.
All they care about is votes nothing more nothing less same old same old…
…even worse, there are cushy jobs AFTER politics for these shameless people (Christopher Pyne, Andrew Robb, Paul Howes, Kevin Rudd, et al.,)