Shorten says thanks to FOFA players
The Minister for Financial Services, Bill Shorten, has used an address to the annual Financial Services Council (FSC) function in Canberra to thank the organisations, companies and executives he has worked with as the responsible minister for the portfolio.
In an address that seemed to reflect the reality that the Parliament was now in its last two weeks, Shorten thanked those in the financial services industry who he said had "worked co-operatively and diligently with the Government to deliver a reform program [that] will improve retirement outcomes for Australians for generations to come.
"What I have appreciated is the professionalism of your approach; this includes the good work of the FSC and the individual regulatory and government relations experts in the companies themselves," he said.
The minister then went on to name senior representatives from the FSC, MLC, AMP, Colonial First State, OnePath and BT.
"We should also like to acknowledge Treasury, ASIC and APRA and my staff who are the coal-face of many policy interactions with you," he said.
The minister had earlier outlined what he believed were the Government's achievements in the financial services arena. He reminded those attending the event of the manner in which the former Howard Government had failed to deliver on the superannuation agenda outlined by the former Hawke/Keating Governments.
"It's an often forgotten fact that John Howard went to the 1996 election promising to increase universal superannuation to 15 per cent," he said. "It's a matter of record that promise was broken and a full 6 per cent of national income was lost to individual retirees and our national savings forever.
"My fear is that history will repeat itself and a promise to stall superannuation at 9.25 per cent will become an indefinite suspension under a Coalition government," Shorten said.
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