- Federal Opposition Names Financial Services Spokesperson
- Reform Agenda to Cost $3 billion
- AFA Award Nominations to Close
Federal Opposition Names Financial Services Spokesperson
The Federal Opposition has named former Chief Minister of the ACT, Senator Katy Gallagher as Shadow Minister for Small Business and Financial Services, succeeding Jim Chalmers who held the role prior to the election.
In the role Gallagher will be part of the shadow cabinet, in contrast to her Government counterpart Michael McCormack, who succeeded Kelly O’Dwyer in the role and who does not sit on the Government front bench.
In a statement released after her appointment Gallagher said that “Labor will continue to call for measures that address systemic issues” referencing its pre-election call for a Royal Commission into financial services.
Reform Agenda to Cost $3 billion
The reform agenda pursued by various governments over the past five years has cost the financial services sector $2.75 billion, and is set to reach $3 billion once proposed reforms before Parliament are implemented, according to new research released by the Financial Services Council (FSC).
The numbers were uncovered by independent consultancy Tria Partners, which was commissioned by the FSC to research the cost of reform, revealing that the cost of reform has added $105 to the cost of superannuation for every Australian consumer.
FSC Chief Executive, Sally Loane used the numbers to call on the Government to resume its reform agenda including the reintroduction of the Life Insurance Reform Bill and the introduction of legislation to increase standards required of financial advisers.
“Regulatory reform to the financial services sector has been necessary to address structural issues and improve consumer outcomes, however, this creates a very real cost to the industry and to consumers,” Loane said.
“Since 2009 there have been 14 major reviews or inquiries into financial services…Persistent political change has contributed to this cost of reform. In the last decade our sector has experienced 17 different relevant Treasury Ministers.”
AFA Award Nominations to Close
Nominations for a range of Awards offered by the Association of Financial Advisers will close at the end of this week.
Four Awards – the Adviser of the Year, Practice of the Year, Rising Star and Female Excellence in Advice awards – will close with the association’s Excellence in Education award already progressed to the finalists’ stage.
The AFA began their awards program in 2003 and this year’s winners will be announced during the AFA National Adviser Conference in Canberra from October 5.
