Stephen Jones 2022

The Albanese government welcomes the announcement by the NSW Premier to reform the emergency services levy.

The ESL makes up a significant portion of home and contents insurance costs for households and businesses in NSW. At a time where insurance costs are increasing nationally, this reform will come as a huge cost of living relief, particularly for those in disaster‑prone areas.

The Albanese Government is moving to enshrine an objective of superannuation in legislation as part of its agenda to strengthen and maximise the benefits of the nation’s super system.

An agreed objective of super will serve as a guide for future governments, regulators, industry, and the wider community, instilling greater confidence in the system.

Introduction

I acknowledge the Ngunnawal people as traditional custodians of the land we are meeting on, and pay my respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.  

Thank you to the Customer Owned Banking Association for the opportunity to speak to you this morning.

The Albanese Government is committed to ensuring Australians have access to high quality and affordable financial advice.

Today, the Government is releasing the first tranche of legislation for its Delivering Better Financial Outcomes package of reforms. This package cuts onerous red tape that adds to the cost of advice with no benefit to consumers.

The Albanese Government is committed to holding large corporates to account by enhancing transparency to ensure that they are paying the right amount of tax.

CHRIS O'KEEFE:

PATRICIA KARVELAS:

From around 4 am yesterday morning millions of Australians, businesses and essential services lost critical mobile and Internet function. Optus went down for more than eight hours but the company has so far failed to explain exactly what went wrong.

RICHARD AEDY:

The government is getting cranky with the superannuation industry, and it made it pretty clear this week. Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones told the funds that they were on notice, and he joins us now.

Minister, welcome to the show. What are your criticisms of the industry?

STEPHEN JONES:

The Albanese Government is continuing the fight against scammers as part of our $17.6 million investment in the 2023‑24 Budget to enhance disruption initiatives to combat investment scams.

Thousands of investment scam and phishing websites have been removed since July 2023, following a blitz by ASIC’s new website takedown service provider.

PETER STEFANOVIC:

Let's go to Sydney now. And joining us is the Assistant Treasurer, Stephen Jones. Stephen, good to see you. Before we get on to economics, I do want to ask you about this letter that the family of Yang Hengjun have written to the Prime Minister pleading for him or the Prime Minister to help bring Yang Hengjun home.