Hume admits Govt fail on passage of CSLR

The Government has been forced to admit that it simply did not deliver on introducing a Compensation Scheme of Last Resort (CSLR) even though the measure had bipartisan support.

The Minister for Superannuation, Financial Services and the Digital Economy, Senator Jane Hume admitted to a Senate Estimates Committee hearing that the Government had opted not to try to push the CSLR legislation through the Parliament because it feared it might by amended by the Labor Party.

This was despite Labor Senator, Jess Walsh suggesting to Hume that, in fact, the Labor Party had offered the Government support in giving the legislation “swift passage” through the Parliament unamended.

The Government’s decision not to try to push the legislation through the Parliament means that it will be up to whichever party wins Government at the May Federal Election to decide whether the bill will be reintroduced in its present form and the timing of such a reintroduction.

It also means that financial advisers are unlikely to see the cost of the scheme show up within their Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) levy bills anytime before the middle of next year.

Hume sought to defend the Government’s failure to pursue passage of the bill by claiming that it was too important to be the subject of amendment.

She said that amendments might end up having a “profound effect” on the cost of the scheme to mums and dads”.

“It’s not something that could have been rushed through,” Hume said.

Labor’s Senator Walsh challenged Hume and asked whether the legislation had not been pushed through because it was “just not a priority”.

However, Hume claimed the Government had worked very hard and that in terms of the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry Treasury had had 100 staff dedicated to delivering on their implementation.