Shorten won’t let consultation hamstring reform

The Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services, Bill Shorten, has declared that while the Government will consult with the industry on the implementation of MySuper and SuperStream, the consultation will not distract it from its policy objective.

In a speech to international regulators, Shorten declared that the Government was consulting closely with industry on changes to the superannuation regime and would continue the consultation process as it considered further reforms.

“But consultation precedes reforms,” he said. “It does not replace them. And in this case, believe me, it will not greatly delay them.”

Shorten also declared the Government’s ongoing support for Australia’s so-called ‘twin peaks’ regulatory system involving the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority.

He said that while other jurisdictions had chosen to combine the regulatory roles, the end result had been the dominance of prudential over financial markets or vice versa.

“The two functions do complement each other,” Shorten said. “But they both need real independent focus, to ensure they are able to give 100 per cent of their attention to their respective areas of regulation.”