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The outgoing chief executive of the Financial Planning Association (FPA), Jo-Anne Bloch, has criticised the three government reviews as a “hodgepodge” of issues and pointed to government interference as a major cause of leaking super funds.
In a question and answer session at the FPA Small Principals’ Conference, Bloch said the Government was trying to put every issue that had ever been a problem on the table “just in case someone has a question down the track”, but 98 per cent of the issues they are looking at have already been solved.
The lack of focus meant the reviews had lost sight of real problems of superannuation, she said.
She also criticised the first Cooper Review report for not mentioning the cost of government interference and tax changes to the super regime over the years.
“The leakages that Jeremy Cooper sees [in super] are commissions, of course, inefficiencies in terms of structure, of course, and not one mention of the cost of all the government changes over the years. How bizarre is that?
“Have you ever had a year in financial planning where something hasn’t changed in super? Can you name a year where something hasn’t changed from Canberra?” she asked the audience.
Bloch also suggested that the current government did not entirely support the first Cooper Review report because of its lack of response to it.
“[Cooper] was appointed by the previous Minister for Superannuation. The current Minister for Superannuation has ended up with this review, and you’ll note with great interest that the current minister has not commented on that first report. Now usually what happens is that a report is made and the Government quickly says, ‘Wasn’t that fantastic? We’re very pleased and we’ll come back to you’. Nothing [has been said].
“I think that says the Government has ended up with something that was [not created by them] and it will certainly have to justify the cost of having [who] knows how many people sitting in them.”
The FPA also did not agree with Cooper’s assumption that most members in default funds were disengaged, Bloch said.
The Government does not need to tell planners how to change the direction of the industry, she added.
