Federal Treasurer Peter Costello has fired a broadside at the Federal Opposition for delaying important reforms to financial services industry regulation.
Federal Treasurer Peter Costello has fired a broadside at the Federal Opposition for delaying important reforms to financial services industry regulation.
Opening the FPA convention in Sydney yesterday, Costello blamed the Opposition for holding up the CLERP reforms and the choice of superannuation legislation which he said had now been before Parliament for 23 months.
He told the Convention the Government plans to have the CLERP 6 regulations up and running by the dawn of 2001, but warned that the Opposition could stand in the way of a smooth passage through parliament.
“I hope the opportunity for these reforms is not wasted by the Opposition,” he says. “These are not political reforms but are crucial for the continued growth of the indus-try beyond 2000.”
Costello flagged the introduction of draft legislation for CLERP 6 before the end of the year and said a three month consultation period would follow.
He also said the recent round of tax reforms would also be a major driver of the growth in the financial planning industry in the future.
“The tax reforms recognise the fact that we are a nation of shareholders,” he said. “Alongside the US, we are now the largest shareholding country in the world. About 43 per cent of the population own shares either directly or through superannuation funds or managed funds.”
