Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Government Services and the Digital Economy) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Treasury Laws Amendment (2023 Measures No. 3) Bill. This is a four-schedule Treasury omnibus bill, which the coalition will be supporting. Like much of the Treasury related legislation that this government has brought forward to date, many of the changes in this bill continue the work of the former coalition government.

I do want to make it clear to the House though that the coalition's support for passage of this bill should not be understood as an endorsement of the current government's economic plan. The fact is that just over a month after the budget, it's quite clear that the current government 's economic plan has failed.

The opposition's support for the bill before the House today should not be taken as our endorsement of the actions of a government which is failing to take responsibility for high inflation, rising mortgage payments, rising prices at the checkout and rising energy bills, to name just a few of the pressing and urgent challenges which confront our economy and which confront Australians, who are being required to deal with all of these pressures and difficulties. Sadly, this bill does not contain any practical measures to address the pressures and challenges that I have just discussed—of high inflation, rising mortgage payments, rising prices at the checkout and rising energy bills.

Let me turn to the matters which this bill does address and speak of the contents of the schedules to this bill. The changes in this bill are largely technical in their nature and deal with credit facilities, with financial advice regulations, with clearing and settlement services and with the First Home Super Saver Scheme. Schedule 1 introduces new rules that would prohibit schemes designed to avoid the application of product intervention orders made under part 7.9A of the Corporations Act, in relation to a credit facility.

Schedule 2 makes changes to limitations presently contained in the legislation, in relation to education requirements for new entrants into the financial advice profession and financial advisers who are registered tax agents. It removes the educational requirement for experienced financial advisers who can demonstrate that they have 10 years experience and a clean record and who have passed the financial advisers exam.

Schedule 3 amends the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001, the Corporations Act 2001 and the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 to facilitate competition in the provision of clearing and settlement services for cash equities traded in Australia.

Schedule 4 makes a number of technical changes to the Taxation Administration Act 1953 and the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 to support the operation of the First Home Super Saver Scheme so that it works more effectively first-home buyers.

Let me now make some more detailed comments, first in relation to schedule 2 and second in relation to schedule 4. Australia has a strong financial services sector. It's one of the bedrocks of our economy, and I think all of us in this House would agree that we want it to remain that way. Our financial services sector has performed strongly over the past decade, and it served our nation well through the financial crisis. The coalition remains committed to Australians having access to high-quality, affordable financial advice. It's for that reason that we welcome the changes made in schedule 2 of this bill.

When in government, we implemented a series of measures to improve consumer protections and to streamline and strengthen oversight of the financial advice sector. We support a continuation of that approach. This part of the bill will make it easier for financial advisers with good records to remain eligible to provide personal advice. The expansion of personal advice was one of the key recommendations of the Quality of advice review, carried out by Michelle Levy. It is something the coalition supports in principle and it's something that has wide support within the financial advice and financial services sector. Unfortunately, the government 's response to the Levy review is a half-baked attempt at a solution, which fails to address some major challenges to improving access to financial advice for Australians. While they are overdue, the government's stream 1 reforms are welcome. However, the opposition does caution that the narrow acceptance of the medium-term agenda will leave Australians with reduced access to financial advice and will leave advisers working outside the superannuation system in the cold.

The government 's response to the Levy review was a key opportunity to drive better improve productivity in the economy, but, disappointingly, the government has shied away from making any genuine improvements.

The narrow implementation of the Levy review which the government is proceeding with risks undermining innovation in investment and product design within the financial advice sector and risks creating an unequal playing field between superannuation funds and the remainder of the financial services sector. The opposition is therefore calling on the government to adopt in principle all of the recommendations of the Levy review and to work constructively with this side of the House on the implementation of those recommendations. This would be an important deregulation measure that would deliver wins for consumers as well as stimulate innovation and investment in the financial services sector.

Schedule 4 of this bill makes technical changes to the First Home Super Saver scheme. The First Home Super Saver scheme was an initiative of the former coalition government and is working effectively to help Australians boost their savings for the purchase of their first home by allowing them to build a deposit inside superannuation. For most people, participating in the scheme could allow them to boost their savings as a first home buyer by around 30 per cent compared to saving through a standard savings account. This was just one of a range of measures brought in by the former coalition government aimed at helping Australians get into their first home. The coalition is very strongly committed to helping more Australians achieve the dream of owning their own home.

I will conclude by returning to the observation I made at the start of these remarks. This bill does contain some positive measures, but it is conspicuous in its failure to address the No. 1 issue facing people right across our country: the cost-of-living crisis. Businesses and families across Australia are feeling the impact of inflation and of rising interest rates, rising mortgage payments, rising prices at the checkout and rising energy bills. All of these are eating away at already tight household budgets. Australians are having to work more hours to make ends meet and they're having to dig into their savings to make ends meet. Our core inflation is higher than any G7 nation except for the United Kingdom. Inflation lifted from 6.3 per cent in March to an annual rate of 6.8 per cent in April. Two of our major banks are forecasting a per capita recession for Australia. Many economists are predicting that there are further rate rises to come this year.

This is a tough time for Australians. There are real and serious economic problems facing our nation, and facing families and businesses right across this country. Sadly, this bill does not address any of those real economic problems. That said, the modest measures within this bill are ones that the opposition supports.

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