HOWARTH DELIVERS THE HOLY GRAIL OF THE AIOFP TEN COMMANDMENTS.
We are pleased to inform members and the wider Advice Community that Shadow Luke Howarth has agreed to address 4 of the most vexatious and acrimonious issues facing the Advice profession and consumers if the Coalition wins power. These were the major focus of the recently released AIOFP’s TEN COMMANDMENTS, they are –
- Returning Risk Advice back to pre LIF conditions.
- Eliminate DIXON out of CSLR Compensation.
- Elimination of Consent and Opt – in Forms.
- Allow Adviser professional judgement when constructing a Financial Plan/Statement.
These 4 ‘holy grail’ outcomes are in the best interests of all stakeholders, the Shadow Minister and his team should be congratulated. This action will significantly reduce the cost of advice for consumers going forward.
The commitments were announced at the AIOFP Conference in Canberra last Tuesday evening November 26th where the ‘Jones vs Howarth debate’ had a clear winner with 100% of members voting unanimously in favour of Shadow Luke Howarth’s presentation.
Minister Jones’ speech.
In contrast, Minister Jones’ presentation was somewhat disappointing. The Minister chose not to directly address any of the 10 Commandments preferring to regurgitate details of the Tranche 2 which will be positioned as an ‘electoral carrot’.
Like most others in the Advice profession, the AIOFP does not agree with certain aspects of Tranche 2 and it will not be good enough to take into the election and expect support from the Advice profession. In fact, we believe Tranche 2 is not in the best interests of consumers, the very stakeholder Canberra should be protecting.
This current stage of the political cycle is the only time the generally obnoxious and overbearing influence of the Canberra Bureaucracy can be neutralised. Also, during this period Politicians will at least listen to our concerns and more importantly act if sufficient pressure is applied. Nothing like the notion of losing their seat to get Politician’s motivated to ignore bureaucratic interference.
This window of opportunity only comes around once every 3 years, we must as a profession take full advantage of the circumstances, otherwise another 3 years of a flawed, expensive and defective operating environment is beckoning.
Marginal Seats.
Like all elections, the marginal seats will be where the contest will be won or lost. The realisation by all sides of politics that Financial Advisers have a strong financial/political relationship with their clients is our key competitive advantage over all other cohorts. Like the 2022 election the AIOFP will be participating in marginal seat activities, the only decision to be made is which side do we support.
It should be acknowledged that sitting Ministers do need to consult with their Caucus before making policy decisions, we will give Minister Jones until Friday 24th January to respond to the 10 Commandments before making our final decision on who the AIOFP will be supporting.
Member support.
The AIOFP is seeking member assistance to provide additional working capital during this period to maximise market opportunities for themselves, consumers and the profession in general.
Shortly you will receive an email requesting members to consider increasing their membership fees in a once off fashion where the contribution will be tax deductible. For non – members wanting to assist our efforts, a $275 contribution will qualify them as an Affiliate member for 12 months, again a tax deduction applies.
The dynamics of this election are delectable for the Advice Profession to make a big positive difference for Consumers and our Profession, but we need Member support to maximise our opportunities.
Peter Johnston | Executive Director
