New shadow Treasurer Tim Wilson has dismissed any need for the Compensation Scheme of Last Resort levy to include SMSFs.
Opposition leader Angus Taylor announced his shadow cabinet last week after defeating Sussan Ley in a leadership spill and Wilson was appointed shadow Treasurer while Pat Conaghan would remain as shadow Minister for Financial Services.
Appearing on Tuesday morning at the Professional Planner Advice Policy Summit, Wilson said he was vehemently against broadening the scope of the Compensation Scheme of Last Resort special levy to the SMSF sector while conceding that he couldn’t officially declare it policy.
“I can’t just do policy by decree as much fun as that would be,” Wilson said.
“My natural instinct is this is an SMSF tax. The Labor government always has an approach which is how do they inflate the interest of the industry funds.”
Financial advisers and APRA-regulated super funds will be part of a larger cohort to be billed to fund a shortfall in the FY26 CSLR levy which blew $47.3 million over the $20 million subsector cap, but it has also been pitched that SMSFs could be levied in the future to cover CSLR levy shortfalls.
Wilson accused the government of trying to punish SMSFs and limit choice.
“I see it as very concerning that they are going down this path,” Wilson said.
“With the CSLR, I can understand their objective in terms of what they’re trying to achieve and how they’re trying to fund it, to simply pass it on to SMSF just acts as another tax and disincentivises people taking agency, control and ownership over their own financial future.”
No re-commitment to QAR
Minister for Financial Services Daniel Mulino told the summit on Monday afternoon that legislating Delivering Better Financial Outcomes remains “a high priority” despite earlier expressing caution about moving forward with the controversial new class of adviser.
The DBFO was the Albanese government’s policy directive based on the recommendations of the Quality of Advice Review.
Asked whether a future Coalition government would maintain its policy of implementing the QAR in full, Wilson said the new opposition would wait and see how the current Albanese administration handles the DBFO reforms.
“I’m going to step through this based on what the government does and then how to respond because it’s very clear to me what the driving motivation of the Labor government currently is,” Wilson said.
“Their objective is too free up the hands of the industry funds and to actively drive activity and investment focus into the industry funds rather than give consumers choice. The foundation of how I approach financial services and financial advice is agency and choice and control over people’s lives that’s up for Australians to do.”
Wilson said there were things that Kenneth Hayne got wrong in the aftermath of the royal commission’s final report.
“Front loading cost structures with financial advice disincentivises low-income earners and the poor from being able to secure financial advice and favours the rich,” Wilson said.
“That’s a disaster for our country. The rich don’t need more advice and if they do, they can afford it. Whereas, lower income earners need pathways to get the advice.”
