Outgoing Minister for Financial Services Stephen Jones says his Labor colleagues are equally committed to legislating advice reform in an effort to assuage industry concerns after he unexpectedly announced his resignation from politics.  

Jones’ tenure in the highly contentious super and financial services portfolio will end – win or lose – at the next federal election after announcing he would leave Parliament after 15 years due to personal reasons. 

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has asked Jones to remain in the role until the election is determined, Professional Planner can reveal, indicating the government would not name his successor and leaving Jones to fend off the attack from an increasingly strident Coalition on super and advice policy.  

“We’ve [still] got a lot of things to tie up,” Jones told the annual Chair Forum, held by Professional Planner sister publication Investment Magazine on Thursday.  

“I spent a lot of time with my colleagues on this assuring that it wasn’t just a Stephen Jones project, but an Albanese government commitment and project. We’ve put a lot of time working out what was needed. The whole economic team is on board, the Prime Minister is on board, we understand the importance of this as an issue.” 

 The Prime Minister previously committed to the DBFO laws in an exclusive interview with Professional Planner in 2023. But financial services industry associations and informed political observers have long fretted that Jones alone is deeply invested in advice reform among the members of the parliamentary Labor Party.  

Jones indicated it was still possible to legislate advice reform before the election. He said there was a “bottleneck of constraints” and they are awaiting for the Parliamentary drafters to be done. 

“There are some complexities, particularly around the best interest duty,” Jones said. 

The minister had revived the DBFO late last year with further details on what was planned for the legislation, but the government faces few sitting dates in the lead up to the election. 

Polarising politician 

Jones leaves behind a polarising stint as minister to the advice community after gaining the portfolio when Labor won the 2022 election.  

Asked about the challenges for creating policy that includes a dozen different advocates for advice and as well as three representatives of super funds remunerated by member, Jones said “I knew what I was taking on, I knew it was going to be a big challenge”. 

“We could’ve said ‘nah, not going to deal with that but that would be a denial of duty,” Jones said. 

“I didn’t want to be the minister for one part of the superannuation system, I wanted to be the minister for the system as a whole…and therefore it’s just going to have to no truck with the super wars. We have shared needs industry wide, issues and concerns and things that needed to be dealt with.” 

Despite getting some legislative wins on the board for the advice community including the experience pathway and the first tranche of Delivering Better Financial Outcomes legislation secured, he’s yet to be able to secure the majority of the DBFO reforms that are meant to expand access of financial advice. 

Furthermore, his attempts to reduce the cost of advice had been further compounded by the increasing cost of the ASIC adviser levy, along with the new Compensation Scheme of Last Resort levy which is expected to blow past its legislated cap. This has led to criticism the cost of advice has only further increased under his watch. 

Back to the start 

Before Jones took office after Labor won the 2022 election, the then shadow minister had promised the introduction of an experience pathway that would give financial advisers with a decade of experience and unblemished record a carve out from the education standard that would require them to have an approved tertiary qualification by the end of this year. 

Stepping into the portfolio after the Quality of Advice Review had commenced just two months prior, Jones allowed the review to continue to run until its original December deadline, with his own response to the recommendations of the review coming in mid-2023. 

While his tenure saw the passing of the experience pathway (in September 2023) and CSLR bills (in mid-2023), it wasn’t until early 2024 that the first of the QAR legislation – now known as DBFO – was introduced which passed in mid-2024 after back and forth with the industry over the wording of several provisions in the bill. 

The minister had consulted heavily with all parts of the advice ecosystem on the reforms, but numerous faux pas during the process – including drafting errors in the DBFO bill and the “qualified adviser” working title for the second tier of adviser – allowed criticism of his performance to mount.  

Outside of financial advice, Jones oversaw a broad portfolio that covered the policy settings for APRA-regulated super funds, as well as enhancing consumer protections in financial services, and mitigating the rising impacts of financial scams – the latter being the dominant topic in his mainstream media appearances. 

From the top of the highlands 

The retirement for the member for Whitlam, covering the Illawarra and southern highlands regions of NSW, comes less than a year after surviving a cabinet re-shuffle last year. 

In a statement and speech presented on Thursday morning, Jones cited the National Broadband Network and the National Disability Insurance Scheme among the key policy achievements by Labor during his tenure. 

“I am proud of the role I played in progressing marriage equality and gambling ad reform in my early years,” Jones said. 

“I am also proud of the work we have done to secure the future of our steel industry, to rebuild TAFE and as Assistant Treasurer, fighting scams, protecting workers superannuation, making financial advice more accessible and affordable, and strengthening consumer protections for all Australians.” 

Jones said he had privilege to see the Illawarra and the Southern Highlands go “from strength to strength”.  

“Growing up and living most of my life in this beautiful place I have seen many changes,” Jones said. 

“We still mine coal and produce steel – but we are so much more. Our world class university educates and gives opportunity to thousands of locals every ear. New suburbs have emerged from farmland, but we have not lost our ability to produce great athletes, artists, minds, and citizens. 

“This great community deserves a representative who will continue to fight for things that matter. A well-funded TAFE system, a future for manufacturing, cheaper childcare, restoring Medicare, affordable housing, and better infrastructure for our growing suburbs.” 

‘Collaborative and open approach’ 

Treasurer Chalmers paid tribute to Jones, describing him as having “big ideas, makes big contributions and is a terrific colleague”. 

“He will leave a proud legacy as Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services, having advanced reforms to strengthen Australia’s superannuation and financial systems, modernise markets and improve the integrity of our tax system,” Chalmers said. 

“He has delivered reforms that will allow more Australians to retire with dignity, and has helped make financial advice more accessible. He played an important role finalising the response to the Banking Royal Commission, and has led critical work to combat scams, including the introduction of landmark legislation.”

Financial Services Council CEO Blake Briggs said the financial services industry appreciated his “collaborative and open approach” with the industry. 

“The Assistant Treasurer can rightly point to a number of successes in his portfolio, and the industry lauds his efforts in ensuring financial advice reform remained on the government’s agenda, legislating the first tranche of its response to the [QAR],” Briggs said. 

Financial Advice Association Australia CEO Sarah Abood praised Jones for his “consistent commitment” of solving the issue of getting more high-quality advice to more Australians. 

“Of course we have not always agreed, but the Minister has genuinely understood the value of professional financial advice and its importance to the economy and the country more broadly,” Abood said. 

Super Consumers CEO Xavier O’Halloran commended the engagement by the minister with consumer groups. 

“There is still work to be done, but the Assistant Treasurer has established a process to strengthen the super system and ensure millions of Australians are treated fairly and respectfully when dealing with their super,” O’Halloran said. 

CoreData founder Andrew Inwood described Jones as “one of the greats”. 

“As someone who cares a lot about the member, the customer and the health of the advice industry, this is really bad news,” Inwood said. 

“He understands the industry, knows what is important and has shown up time after time, even when the message was unpleasant and the room was hostile.” 

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