APRA’s $70,000 Christmas bash – in whose interest?
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has still not answered questioning from a Labor Senator on whether its supervisory levies extracted from superannuation funds is in the best interests of members of those funds if it is spent on an APRA Christmas party.
NSW Labor Senator and former trade union official, Tony Sheldon, posed the question during Senate Estimates late last year in the context of APRA having funded a $70,000 Christmas Party.
Sheldon, as a member of the Senate Economics References Committee, posed his question in the following manner:
“As the APRA Supervisory Levy is paid for by regulated entities and therefore, by superannuation fund members, can APRA guarantee its expenditure of members’ money through the Supervisory Levy is in members’ best financial interests?”
“If so, what processes does APRA have in place for determining that its expenditure of members’ money meets members’ best financial interests?”
“APRA threw itself a $70,000 Christmas Party at the Sheraton Grand Ballroom in 2023, of which $50,649 was paid for directly by APRA and therefore, paid in large part by superannuation fund members’ account balances,” Sheldon’s question on notice said.
“How did APRA satisfy itself that the expenditure of $50,649 was consistent with the members’ best financial interest duty given that this money was used for cocktails and canapes for APRA staff? What process did APRA undertake to determine that a $70,000 Christmas party was not excessive corporate entertainment?”
“As superannuation funds have a requirement to ensure that payment to their service providers is in their members’ best financial interests, how does APRA suggest that funds are to satisfy this requirement when the Supervisory Levy paid to APRA contributes to excessive corporate entertainment such as the $70,000 2023 APRA Christmas party?”
“What are the expected costs of APRA’s 2024 Christmas party and how will these be funded?”
The Parliament House web site lists Sheldon’s question as being unanswered with APRA’s response being “overdue”.
Just Embarrassing for all involved
Really?? Is this the best Tony Sheldon can come up with?? I’d rather he die on a much more worthwhile hill than this one. $70K for a staff xmas function is nothing. Tony Sheldon needs to start worrying about the bigger issues.
If APRA is going to chase headlines for similar activity from super funds then it is clear they should not be doing the same. It doesn’t matter the amount paid it’s the principle, and the fact that the regulator says one thing and does another. But this is typical of APRA and ASIC, the rules apply to everyone but them (and their union fund buddies!).
Didn’t CBUS spend $400k on a party….?
The nub of this seems to be (in my opinion) that if it is ok for APRA to spend money on an Xmas show (using member funds) then it too should be ok for super fund trustees to do the same (using member funds).
My strong view is that not $0.01 of member funds should be spent on Xmas parties or 40 year anniversary celebrations by either of these entity types. How is this in a members interest?
I wonder what would happen if a retail super fund, SMSF, or bank used member funds to throw a private party?
Australia…. lol.
that was my point, neither should be spending member’s funds to do anything else other than improve the retirement of their members. Was interesting to see that all of a sudden a Labor Senator had an issue with how a body was using its member’s funds!
Agree. It’s a total joke. We’ll add it to the list of all the other total jokes….
So when APRA finally starts shining a very faint light on union super funds, the unions try to turn the spotlight on APRA’s questionable behaviour.
APRA may have have done the wrong thing in relation to the Xmas party, but APRA’s far greater crime is their many years of dereliction of duty in ignoring misuse of members’ money by union super funds.
Let’s hope the Xmas party incident leads to a shake up of management and culture at APRA, so they can finally do their job properly in relation to union super funds.
Yes – how dare staff at APRA have a Christmas party. Seems there are a few Scrooges here. Bah Humbug!
And… how much was the staff contribution to this and how much per head was it. Any relevant details or just a sensational headline?
It was modest & went for only a few hours.
Don’t care. As far as I’m concerned you should pay for your own coffee and pay rent to use the coffee cups in the building.
Until you fix up your ridiculous TDP performance test, I’m not interested in hearing any justification of spending $0.01 more of our money on you.
And it seems, how dare APRA staff receive wages and a have rent paid for their work place. Terrible!
In Terry G’s Australia, I’d consider doing a full performance review, have a management consultant come with the view to heavily cut costs. Taxpayer’s like this kinda stuff.
Perhaps consider relocating all of your offices to a bunch of transportable buildings in a paddock 50kms out of Wittenoom. No air-con. Bring your own toilet paper.
No working from home either.
Wow – you belong in the USA. Right wing extreme views. I challenge you to do better. Oops no idea what to do. Go on, give your views. A consultant review! Is that the best you can do, IT’S BEEN DONE. Easy to criticise. You do it then.
How excellent of you to call me extreme right wing and state I belong in the USA.
Poor form – but in line with my expectations coming from a supporter of $70,000 Xmas parties for public servants.
I suggest that it is you that can and must do better.
Well you’re the one that raised this and your big mouth should tell us how to get it right. No timed toilet breaks with your stop watch though, or other similar progressive rants that seem to be in your preferred play book. What a delight you would be to work with.
You’d probably never work with me because you’re probably unemployable in the private sector.
Bzzzz Wrong again, from extreme right wing Terry!
I came from the private sector and have returned to it. Some of those reason include earning more than I could working for the government.
I ask again, extreme right wing big mouth.
What would you do actually to fix the issues that you’ve raised, although nothing of substance aside from a Chistmas party that was extremely subsidised by staff. What other problems Terry? Anything?
Platitudes and insults don’t paint much of a picture aside from a reflection of your immaturity, big mouth and lack of knowledge.
Cmon. Tell us what’s wrong and how you would save us.
Typical lefty response whereby someone disagrees with your position so you just call them “extreme right wing”.
Symptomatic of someone who doesn’t have an argument but who’s more than willing to shoot around labels as a shield.
It’s predictable, boring and very poor form. Grow up.
I think that many Government institutions, including ASIC and APRA are lacking any serious accountability. I agree with Andrew Bragg’s assessment of ASIC and think that it would be excellent to implement the recommendations within that Senate Estimates report. That would be a good start.
In my opinion, all you have achieved by continuing to engage me here likely confirms to readers the strong entitlement attitudes that are far too common in the public service.
As I said previously, if a Government institution spends $1 of taxpayer money, then accountability must apply. I thought it was quite telling when questions were asked in Senate Estimates about a super trustee spending members money on a party that reference to Government institutions having Xmas shows was cited as a defense.
To taxpayers and super members, this is a joke.
With regard to APRA, I think that APT methodology is absolutely garbage (especially with regard to Trustee Directed Products) and needs a complete overhaul immediately.
As to you, I don’t have not much else to add really. Readers here can make up their mind.
Only the entitled could run a defense of using taxpayer funds for their Xmas show.
I’d suggest you jog on.
Very enlightening Terry. Not a single solution or even an idea of a solution, as I thought you would sprout. Just platitudes, which can be popular amongst the intellectually challenged.
I’d suggest you stop listening to talk back radio!
Bye bye.
If you took the time to read Bragg’s report that I reference above, you would have seen the ideas that need to be taken to start to address some of the problems.
It’s not up for me to spell out those ideas and recommendations for you. Perhaps you should look them up.
Try Google or ChatGPT – they work pretty well.
Thanks for yet another round of abuse. It’s not clever, or cool. It’s still predictable and boring.
Just another bleating from someone who doesn’t have an argument but has a bunch of adjectives.
Cheerio champ.
Champ! Really! Does anyone use that expression in a derogatory way anymore aside from you?
I so can’t be bothered responding to the uneducated.
Goodbye
Should it help, using the word ‘champ’ in a derogatory way has actually increased significantly in recent years.
But you might not have picked that up whilst you were working in the cozy, sheltered, arguably desensitized world of Government.
…. enjoying those taxpayers funded Xmas shows.
Happy to play an education arms race with you if that’s what you desire.
Again – all you’ve trotted out here is another adjective and with no substance.
Cheerio for the second time, “Champ.”