Jones always safe in Cabinet reshuffle
While financial advisers have, in recent times, marked down the performance of the Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services, Stephen Jones, he was never likely to be moved or demoted in Sunday’s Cabinet reshuffle.
While financial advisers have been expressing disappointment in the Government’s failure to deliver on many of its financial planning policy promises, their negativity about Jones has not significantly filtered upwards to sufficiently bother either the Treasurer, Jim Chalmers or the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese.
In fact, in terms of Cabinet seniority, Jones now sits inside the Outer Cabinet, a rung up from the bevy of Assistant Ministers
If the Government has a priority in the financial services arena it is superannuation, not financial advice and it believes, probably correctly, that voters will see the cost of financial advice as a low rank issue for the 2025 election.
There is also the reality that financial advice policy is a tricky policy area within the Treasury portfolio, and it makes little sense to hand it to a new junior minister less than a year out from a Federal Election.
Financial advisers can be assured that Albanese intends no further changes to his Cabinet line-up unless he absolutely has to.
Cabinet
| Minister | Portfolio |
|---|---|
| ALBANESE, Anthony | Prime Minister |
| MARLES, Richard | Deputy Prime Minister Defence |
| WONG, Penny | Foreign Affairs |
| CHALMERS, Jim | Treasurer |
| GALLAGHER, Katy | Finance Public Service Women |
| FARRELL, Don | Trade and Tourism Special Minister of State |
| BURKE, Tony | Home Affairs Immigration and Multicultural Affairs Cyber Security Arts |
| BUTLER, Mark | Health and Aged Care |
| BOWEN, Chris | Climate Change and Energy |
| PLIBERSEK, Tanya | Environment and Water |
| KING, Catherine | Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government |
| RISHWORTH, Amanda | Social Services |
| SHORTEN, Bill | NDIS Government Services |
| DREYFUS, Mark | Attorney-General Cabinet Secretary |
| CLARE, Jason | Education |
| COLLINS, Julie | Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Small Business |
| ROWLAND, Michelle | Communications |
| KING, Madeleine | Resources Northern Australia |
| HUSIC, Ed | Industry and Science |
| WATT, Murray | Employment and Workplace Relations |
| O’NEIL, Clare | Housing Homelessness |
| MCCARTHY, Malarndirri | Indigenous Australians |
| CONROY, Pat | Defence Industry and Capability Delivery International Development and the Pacific |
Outer Ministry
| Minister | Portfolio |
|---|---|
| KEOGH, Matt | Veterans’ Affairs Defence Personnel |
| JONES, Stephen | Assistant Treasurer Financial Services |
| GILES, Andrew | Skills and Training |
| ALY, Anne | Early Childhood Education Youth |
| WELLS, Anika | Aged Care Sport |
| McBAIN, Kristy | Regional Development, Local Government and Territories |
| MCALLISTER, Jenny | Cities Emergency Management |
Assistant Ministers
| Assistant Minister | Portfolio |
|---|---|
| ELLIOT, Justine | Social Services Prevention of Family Violence |
| THISTLETHWAITE, Matt | Immigration |
| LEIGH, Andrew | Competition, Charities and Treasury Employment |
| GORMAN, Patrick | Prime Minister Public Service Attorney-General |
| KEARNEY, Ged | Health and Aged Care Indigenous Health |
| MCBRIDE, Emma | Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Rural and Regional Health |
| AYRES, Tim | Future Made in Australia Trade |
| CHISHOLM, Anthony | Education Regional Development Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry |
| WATTS, Tim | Foreign Affairs |
| THWAITES, Kate | Social Security Ageing Women |
| WILSON, Josh | Climate Change and Energy |
| HILL, Julian | Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs |
Retention of Jones indicates the government has no intention to fix the problems associated with professional financial advice being unnecessarily hamstrung by bad regulation. It shows the government really doesn’t care that so many unadvised Australians have been thrown to the wolves of scammers and dodgy products. It doesn’t care that Jones has achieved virtually nothing to fix the “hot mess” of financial advice regulation despite more than two years in the job, and has actually overseen a worsening of the situation.
As far as Labor is concerned the financial services portfolio is not about protecting consumers or enhancing their wellbeing. All they really care about is sneakily funnelling part of consumers’ retirement savings to the likes of the CFMEU via union controlled “Industry” funds. On that measure Jones has been doing a good job, and has been rewarded for it.