Shadow minister for financial services, Luke Howarth, says the government is “too slow” in implementing the Delivering Better Financial Outcomes reforms and has committed to completing the process if it is not finished in time.
Speaking at a Financial Services Council (FSC) event in Sydney, Howarth said it would be critical for the government to have a consultation on the second tranche of reforms by Christmas, or risk the legislation being pushed to the wayside in a rush to the next federal election.
Minister for Financial Services, Stephen Jones, has stated he wants to see the legislation passed by May 2025. The first tranche of the reforms passed the Senate and the House of Representatives on 4 July.
Howarth said: “Jones has to drive it and push it forward, no one else is going to do it. The recommendations need to be implemented in a timely manner.
“It has been too slow and I don’t have the confidence that they will get tranche two right. They might put a consultation period out at Christmas, again, when everyone is on leave, and put a rush change through. It hasn’t really hit what the industry is after so far.
“I hope they do get it right and make everyone’s life easier and make it easier for Australians to get the advice they need.”
He continued that if the opposition was elected in the federal election, that he would commit to implementing the recommendations “without reinventing the wheel”.
“We support the levy review in full and wouldn’t go back to the drawing board. We want to get the industry reform done as quickly as possible as time is of the essence. The work has been done; it just needs to be implemented asap. We wouldn’t be reinventing the wheel.”
He said he believed the “absolute priority” of the reforms was to reduce regulatory red tape and duplication and removal of statements of advice.
“[If elected], we would get all the groups together to assess the priorities to get this done, which ones are the absolute priorities, and we would push this through. So far, we are hearing these involve the doubling up of regulation and statements of advice, and we support that.
“Having double ups in regulation is hurting people. We do need some regulation, but it doesn’t need to be duplicated.
“Ensuring the industry can give the advice that’s needed and that will benefit Australians is a top priority.”
Howarth was elected to the role in March 2024, following the exit of Stuart Robert in May 2023.
So the Liberals still don’t understand financial advice and the mayhem they have caused.
It is q pity they don’t serve small business and continue to be focussed only on their corporate donors – big business.