The Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services, Stephen Jones, is being reported as not intending to contest the next Federal Election.
Although his office has not formally confirmed the reports, media outlets said he was not intending to recontest his Wollongong-based seat of Whitlam.
Jones is expected to remain in his portfolio until the election.
Yep, your comment would indeed be funny if the broken promises and situational hot mess he left weren't so dire.
I think you've said it all there Old Risky, thank you. Very insightful, well stated, structured and written - always…
Jones giving up eh? Make sure the door hits him on his way out! What a useless clown he proved…
I'm currently working in an Overseas Call Centre scamming Australians with no education. I was looking forward to being a…
They should run "compare the pair" commercials which demonstrate how poorly industry funds handle death benefit and insurance claims compared…
© 2021-2022 Financial Newswire a division of FST Media Pty Ltd | ABN 17 354 898 863
To quote Homer Simpson looking at his senior school yearbook…”Activities? None. Sports? None. Honors? None. So many memories.”
Such a tragedy that our industry is losing such talent and energy. Nothing was ever too hard for Jonesy – just look at how quickly and efficiently he cleaned up that hot mess he inherited from the Liberal party nongs. He must be remembered as the king of under-promising and over-delivering. Just brilliant. It will be hard (impossible even) to fill those huge boots with soles worn bare from the incessant hard work displayed over Jonesy’s term!
A true champion of easy wins and conqueror of the “Hot Mess”.
Some say, he’ll be remembered as the ‘Inverse King Midas’.
Will be sadly missed.
No surprises there with absolutely nothing achieved, and it now leaves our Industry up the creek without a paddle. What a shambles!
Nothing personal Jonesy, but you were well out of your depth in the area of life insurance. On one hand, you had your mates in the industry superfunds constantly pushing for concessions for their benefit, not their members. Then the life insurers jumped on the bandwagon you created of “simple advice” in your rather dimwitted response to the QAR report.That option of simple advice left open the door for the life insurers to jump on the same bandwagon, seeking to sell cheaper rubbish life products to existing policyholders who ring up to complain about the ever increasingcost of their life insurance.
And neither you or ASIC cared to investigate two of the current issues with life insurance – the anti-consumer Life product design known as Duration Based Pricing, and the gouging of existing policyholders by life insurers seeking to replace lost income that disappeared with LIF. Again, LIF was one of the Coalition’s bank-favouring gifts to life risk advice, but you apparently took advice from Treasury, and apparently also from some of the insurers, that LIF was doing fine, thank you.No sign of common sense there!
We won’t mention CSLR because you jumped all over a rather poorly designed and ill considered product of the departing Coalition government, although they aren’t real keen to talk about it. Someone will have to explain it to Gus. When the time came to consider CS LR, you apparently accepted Treasury advice, that product manufacturers of failed financial products (Dixon) should really not be the main contributors to funding potential losses from trustees of SMSF’s. And it would appear you accepted ASICs argument that all advisers are the same and that a life risk advisor who does not provide investment advice should pay the same Dixon levy across the board. Thanks!
And you seemingly ignored the fact of an ever increasing ASIC levy, and a need to have some measure of control over an overfunded ASIC, to control their egos so they did not take on cases that were never a chance of winning(Westpac). That ASIC Levy is having a significant impact on the profitability of advisers, who like no other businesses, lack the facility to be able to predict the amount of the levy for a year ahead. Again, because it was a Coalition invention, you charged on, probability seduced by the fact that any revenue from litigation went straight to Consolidated revenue.
Eventually it will all come out in the wash. Why you failed to be an efficient and effective Minister for Financial Services, always considering both sides of all the financial industry arguments, putting practicality over ideology. And, to be fair, I guess some of your lack of success is down to the fact that apparently your Canberra office was staffed by Treasury officials, who naturally polish up the party line, every time you asked a question.
No chance of independent thought in that office, And you won’t be the first junior minister tied up in knots by his senior department.It is a long history, since the time John Howard, who invented the first financial services minister, most of whom proved to be totally clueless. Incredibly, just as they were brought up to speed by both the advice industry and the bureaucracy, they were promoted up the greasy pole, or, as you have done, departed the scene.
Good luck to you and the ship you sail in
I think you’ve said it all there Old Risky, thank you. Very insightful, well stated, structured and written – always good to read your comments.
Best (political) news you could hope for. No mention of “spending more time with the family” so assume it may just be a realisation that he was incompetent. Not sure with someone that has his work experience will do next?
Plum job with an industry super fund no doubt, which he would have lined up for himself during the QAR “negotiations”
If it we’re me, I’d brush up on being able to sling a gang sign. Like the ones you see on the TV.
He cared very little about those under his portfolio, especially advisers and clients. No doubt he will go back to his union roots, getting a nice job at a union fund after years of working hard to promote their agenda ahead of fixing the “hot mess” all advisers and clients still deal with.
The best news and result in 3 years Mr Hot Mess has given Advisers.
Shall we call it a quick win :- /
To his credit, Stephen Jones did managed to do what few others before him could – he managed to not make things worse.
Better that than Jane Hume who decimated the industry through new taxes (ASIC levy, CSLR) and unnecessary red-tape (too numerous to mention).
Guys, the red tape removal should be coming any day now.
Yep, your comment would indeed be funny if the broken promises and situational hot mess he left weren’t so dire.
I’m currently working in an Overseas Call Centre scamming Australians with no education. I was looking forward to being a Qualified Adviser too, and working from a large Super fund with a salary sacrifice target and a 4 weeks of training. Will this impact my job prospects? I was looking extending my working holiday Visa to align with the FAAA conferance, so I could sit right next to all the Relevant Providers.
I also heard that Super funds want Qualfied Adviser like me, because this guy removed GST Credits on Advice Fees, introduced a levy and introduced another 3 ASIC websites so Advisers could be licenced, registered and authorised. and so there is a real shortage.
Please tell me please.
Jones giving up eh? Make sure the door hits him on his way out! What a useless clown he proved himself to be . . . typical politician with moving mouth so we know he’s lying. NEXT!!