Bowen urged to review Trio/Astarra outcome
The Federal Opposition has called on newly-installed Federal Treasurer, Chris Bowen to revisit the compensation arrangements which flowed out of the collapse of Trio/Astarra.
The Shadow Assistant Treasurer, Senator Mathias Cormann, says he believes a review is justified on the basis of some investors in Trio/Astarra being compensated under a Commonwealth scheme while others, those in self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs), were not.
Cormann said that by pursuing such an outcome, the former Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation, Bill Shorten, "completely ignored the unique circumstances of the Trio collapse and the findings of a bi-partisan Parliamentary Joint Committee that pointed to the failure of regulators to take appropriate action to protect investors and the failure of the Government to pursue the masterminds behind the Trio fraud.
"Trio investors did not consciously set out to put their retirement savings into particularly risky investments," Cormann said. "They were victims of fraud and, according to a comprehensive parliamentary inquiry, the failure of relevant authorities to act in a timely and appropriately coordinated manner.
"It took Bill Shorten nearly a year to consider the recommendations made by that key parliamentary committee — and even then he only provided a preliminary response, merely announcing further new reviews and ‘consultations' as a means of following his longstanding practice of avoiding making actual decisions," he said.
Cormann said Bowen should re-consider all the recommendations of the Parliamentary Joint Committee in relation to Trio and ensure that proper investigations were conducted into the key figures responsible for defrauding investors in Trio. He said Bowen should explore whether the unique circumstances surrounding the Trio collapse justified at least a level of compensation to victims so far left out in the cold.
"It is also critically important that Treasurer Bowen obtain a briefing from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) to clarify why they do not intend to intervene before the Federal Court on 8 July to prevent the lifting of travel restrictions currently imposed on alleged Trio fraudster Paul Gresham/Tony Maher," he said.
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