Albanese government sworn in
Organisations have welcomed the Albanese Labor government and the appointment of Stephen Jones as minister for financial services.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was sworn in on 1 June and unveiled his first cabinet including Jones and Jim Chalmers as Treasurer.
Yasser El-Ansary, chief executive of FINSIA, said: “The financial services industry fully supports the commitment made by the Prime Minister to commence a new era of ‘political collaboration and co-operation’ across our Parliament, to work as a united force in enabling Australia to compete more comprehensively across global markets”.
He suggested the Government focus on areas such as ongoing policy reform, the digital economy and accelerating the pathway to deeper professionalization.
The Financial Planning Association of Australia said it was looking forward to working with Jones on education standards and Chalmers on the industry funding model for the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
FPA chief executive Sarah Abood said: “We are expecting the new Albanese Labor government to quickly deliver on its election commitment to provide much-needed certainty to the profession on education standards, including providing for a framework to better recognise relevant experience.
“We have already had good engagement with Minister Jones on this and other issues in the past and we look forward to working further with the new government.”
In the superannuation space, Eva Scheerlinck, chief executive of the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST) said: “After a Federal election campaign in which, for the most part, superannuation was only mentioned by the former Government in relation to a poorly conceived proposal to raid it, we look forward to engaging with ministers, staff and other government officials on issues that are important to our members and their retirement savings.”
She highlighted the plight of women who received less in super and lost out from taking time off work to look after children, calling for superannuation to be paid on parental leave.
“We can infer from the Federal election results, and particularly the rise of the so-called ‘teal’ independents standing on issues including gender equity, that the treatment of women was a major concern in the electorate and Australians expect much be done to assist them and also protect the super system from further attacks.”
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Laura Dew
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