The Minister for Revenue and Financial Services, the Hon Kelly O’Dwyer MP said the Opposition has conveniently left out crucial numbers to push their own misguided agenda for a Royal Commission - releasing select numbers on the complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) for 2008-09 and 2014-15.
“We will be looking at every measure we can, in the Parliament and outside, to argue for a royal commission.”
Katy Gallagher, ABC AM, 22nd Aug 2016
The Opposition conveniently left out the figure which shows that complaints to the FOS peaked in 2011-12 to 36,099 when Bill Shorten was the Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation,” Minister O’Dwyer said.
“Since this peak under Labor, the number of FOS disputes has in fact fallen by 11 per cent.
“Labor was in Government for six years; they opposed our review of the financial system; and less than 12 months ago voted against a Royal Commission.
“The Government has already been acting to improve the complaints process for consumers. In May I announced an independent review into the financial system’s external dispute resolution and complaints framework.
“This includes examining the Financial Ombudsman Service, the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal, and the Credit & Investments Ombudsman.
“Two weeks ago the Terms of Reference for this review were also released publicly.
“We are bolstering the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, with $121 million to enhance its powers and surveillance capabilities. This will better enable ASIC to combat misconduct in Australia’s financial services industry and improve consumer confidence.
"The Coalition Government delivered on our election commitment to undertake the Financial System Inquiry and accepted 43 of 44 recommendations. We are actioning a series of reforms to ensure Australia has a world-leading financial system,” Minister O’Dwyer said.
“The Turnbull government is working to improve the financial services sector. In comparison, the Opposition is peddling mistruths and missing key information to suit their political agenda.