Opposition targets Jones over 650 days of QAR inaction

The Federal Opposition has zeroed in on Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services, Stephen Jones and his lack of action in implementing the Quality of Advice Review recommendations.

The Shadow Assistant Treasurer, Luke Howarth has declared that it is now 650 days since the Government received the final report of Michelle Levy’s QAR and claimed that not much has been done.

By comparison, he undertook that a future Coalition Govenrment would implement the QAR recommendations in full.

Referring to the 650 days, Howarth said that, “During this period, the Government has failed financial advisers by watering down Levy’s recommendations, botching the first tranche of reforms, and moving at a snail’s pace on implementing the Review’s most important red tape reducing recommendations”.

“The clock is ticking for the Government to deliver these reforms, with an election fast approaching and three parliamentary sitting weeks remaining this year.”

“The Government promised financial planners and advisers it would bring their costs down and fix the ‘hot mess’ of financial advice legislation but, like many of the Albanese Government’s promises, this promise has been comprehensively broken with advisers’ costs instead skyrocketing over the last year,” Howarth’s statement said.

“In addition to its failure to cut red tape, the Government has also slugged the financial advice profession with hefty bills with cost blowouts to the ASIC and Compensation Scheme of Last Resort levies.”

“Financial planners and advisers are hurting at a time when they should be focused on rebuilding their industry and helping the many Australians who are currently under-advised and under-insured.”

Howarth said time was running out for the Government to deliver on its promises to the financial advice industry.

“Like most of its financial services reform agenda, advice reforms have been left to the last minute and are clearly not a priority for this Government. Draft legislation is yet to surface, and the sector is rightly starting to second-guess whether it ever will.

“The Government continually scapegoats its department and a lack of legislative drafters for its inability to progress the reforms it promises.

“Curiously, these ‘drafting constraints’ were not an issue when the Assistant Treasurer recently turned his attention to attacking tax advisers and practitioners with new red tape through unnecessary conduct and ‘dob in’ regulations.

“The industry was dismayed to see the Assistant Treasurer pick and choose Michelle Levy’s recommendations and water down its deregulatory reforms but hopeful he would progress what survived in a timely manner. 650 days have now passed since Jones was handed the Quality of Advice Review’s final report and he has been on a go-slow ever since, even prompting Michelle Levy to write a scathing open letter calling out the Minister’s inaction.”

“The Coalition would implement the Levy Review in full and, unlike the Government, we won’t treat this as the end of the road for deregulation. This is the beginning, not the end for cutting red tape for financial professionals.”