“Back on Track and Back to Basics – The Coalition’s approach to Financial Services” 

I want to thank Fin Tech Australia for putting together this important conference, to colleagues in the room it’s a great pleasure to see you too.  

 

It’s a real pleasure to be addressing my second Intersekt conference as Shadow Treasurer.   

 

Thank you for having me but more importantly, thank you for the work you do.  

 

Whether you are running your own business or working as part of a team.  

 

Whether you are part of a start-up or small business or working within a larger one.   

 

Whether you are working within government, a regulator or in the private sector - what you are doing is enormously important.   

 

Of course, we've seen enormous success in this sector, around the world, and the reforms that we saw through multiple decades across both sides of politics, Howard, Costello, Hawke and Keating set this sector up for success. 

 

It’s easy to forget that it pays $37 billion in tax a year which is extraordinary. Alongside the mining sector it is one of the great contributors to government coffers, some would argue too big.  

 

It is a big contributor, that means our schools, our hospitals, our roads and the essential services we rely on are funded by the financial services sector.  

 

That is enormously important to all Australians  

 

But it goes beyond that.   

 

One of the things I like to highlight is that our prosperity as a nation, prosperity as individuals, as households and businesses, relies on an effective financial services sector. 

 

A sector which is the enabler of dreams and prosperity.   

 

For aspirational Australians, and I consider myself to be one of those, I’m sure many in the room do as well, you can’t get there without an effective financial services sector.  

 

Whether it is buying a home. Starting a business.  Saving to start a family.   

 

The work the finance sector does, at its core, is about supporting Australians to realise their dreams. We should never lose sight of that.  

 

In the business sector, it's been easy in recent years to forget the importance of customer, but I think it's noble to serve a customer well and to deliver them to something special, and in this sector, that means delivering them an opportunity to realise their dreams.  

 

My goal is to make sure the next generation financial services leaders in this country are able to deliver what the last generation has been able to deliver.  

 

THE STATE OF THE ECONOMY

 

There is no question we are in a transformative time in our economy.  

 

Globally, advanced economies are struggling as they emerge from the pandemic to deal with increasing demands on public finances at a time when money is no longer free.   

 

A generation of politicians trained on the value of an announceable are struggling with the reality that government spending is not a silver bullet to supply side shocks.   

 

Domestically, we are struggling more than other economies with that problem.   

 

This was highlighted in economic data released over the last month.  

 

We have a public sector growing at seven times the rate of the economy.   

 

Labour productivity has fallen by 6.3% since the time of the election – erasing five years of productivity gains.  We are alone around the world that have seen those outcomes 

 

Job creation over the past two years has primarily been driven by government or government-funded sectors, with job vacancies stubbornly above their long-term average.   

 

For a working household, prices have increased 18.2% over the last two years.   

 

The average mortgage payment in my home state of New South Wales has increased by $35,000, and according to markets and the RBA shows little sign of easing in the immediate future.    

 

And if you look at our small business sector – representing 98% of all businesses and half of private sector employment – they have been hit hard by rate rises too. 50% of small business finance is secured against the family home. They are being bombarded with new costs: high energy bills, higher taxes, and more red and green tape.   

 

And as the BCA President Bran Black pointed out just last night – we are seeing capital and investment leave Australia.   

 

Whilst Australians might not see the impact of that directly, they feel it acutely.  

 

The lesson from all of this is simple: we cannot take for granted the prosperity we have enjoyed. If we take it for granted, the chances are it will disappear.   

 

We cannot take for granted the recovery we enjoyed emerging from the pandemic in 2021 – with record low unemployment, recovering public finances, low interest rates, and world-leading economic growth.  

 

We cannot forget the basics as we look to the future.   

 

TWO PATHS FOR AUSTRALIA’S FUTURE

 

In the face of this challenge we are presented with a cross-roads.  

 

The government’s approach – and the approach of the opposition.   

 

The distinction between the approach is increasingly clear. Down one path lies greater government control and regulation.  

 

Down the other, a future fuelled by private innovation and economic freedom.  

 

That is the pathway we believe in. 

 

The government’s approach is best defined as one that rejects the private sector.  

 

Let us be clear: the Future Made in Australia policy is about creating bureaucracies, not businesses.   

 

It puts government at the heart of investment decisions.   

 

It puts well-intentioned concepts with little economic dividend and big fiscal price tags at a time when don’t need that.    

 

An economy where the jobs market and GDP is entirely propped up by the public sector is not a healthy economy.  It’s as simple as that.  

 

It is not a pathway to prosperity because eventually the snake will eat its own tail.  

 

That’s why we have taken strong positions on critical issues in recent months, because we think this is a pathway to poverty not prosperity.  

 

In your own sector I think you see this distinction in stark terms.   

 

Labor might not intend to harm business, but its priorities do. We’ve seen:   

• No progress on regulation of digital assets in two years, as the world passes us by and investment shifts offshore.   

• No progress on open banking in two years, as Australian consumers miss out on smoother customer experiences and greater competition.   

• Proposed changes to the sophisticated investor test, with no understanding of its impact on start-up financing.   

• A proposed unindexed wealth tax on unrealised capital gains, with no understanding of its impact on small business, SMSF structures, and their role in start up financing.   

 

Even where we see notional commitments from the government on the potential of AI, big data, and quantum – we see no energy policy to deliver the affordable and reliable baseload energy these technologies crucially require.   

 

How can Australia lead in innovation without ensuring the foundation of reliable, affordable energy? You can’t power the future on rhetoric alone.  

Without action, these promises remain hollow, killing off the pathway to future productivity and prosperity.  

 

THE COALITION APPROACH

 

By contrast the Coalition will get back on track and back to basics.  

 

That will require us not just to pick up the work we initiated in government but to accelerate it with a broader economic agenda that supports businesses and Australian consumers first.   

 

That means a high productivity, low inflation economy.   

 

That will require the private sector because we know that is what drives a healthy economy.   

 

We cannot have an economy with strong social services, without a strong private sector that pays taxes to fund it.   

 

For your sector what does this mean?  

• We will cut red tape by progressing the financial services regulatory grid to drive a deregulation agenda;  

• We will accelerate the implementation of the Levy Review, and regulating digital assets – ensuring Australia remains a competitive leader in the global economy;  

• We will get the Consumer Data Right on track and on target, boosting competition and empowering Australian consumers with more choice and better services;  

• We will drive investment through lower, simpler, fairer taxes – and have announced that we would make the Instant Asset Write Off permanent for small businesses as a downpayment on that agenda;  

• We will have Paul Fletcher as a dedicated Minister for the Digital Economy, to drive this agenda forward.  

 

We will have more to say in the lead up to the election.   

 

Our commitment is clear: we will deliver the reforms Australia needs to get back on track.  

 

But we can’t that alone.  

 

An innovative financial sector that is well regulated - not over-regulated - is essential to addressing these challenges.   

 

Each and every one of us will have a role to play – it will require your talent, your initiative, your business nous, and your commitment to deliver great business experiences to your customer.  

 

That is a service for all Australians – and it is essential for our prosperity.  

 

This is the path we are offering. One that rewards the aspiration, entrepreneurial spirit, and ingenuity that has built our nation historically and is present in this room today.   

 

One that secures the essential services you would expect of such a nation  

 

Under Peter Dutton’s leadership, the Coalition is offering a partnership and we would be proud to walk that path with you.  

 

 

ENDS.