Sam Dastyari (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I withdraw. I was of the opinion that I was quoting a member of the other place. But I could not agree more with the sentiment that was expressed earlier today by Mr Palmer, the member for Fairfax. I think he captured the sentiments of people who had been fleeced, who had been mugged and who had been ripped off before the FoFA changes were introduced.

Senator Cormann's audacious act in the dead of night will take Australia back to the bad old days. He has removed the best interests duty by removing the list of the steps a planner must take to legally meet the best interests duty. He has introduced new exemptions allowing for conflicted remuneration—allowing payment of conflicted remuneration and commissions for advice on complex products. These exemptions will see a return to the sales culture—and those across the chamber know it. These exemptions will see the return of conflicted remuneration, allowing payment of unlimited incentives and bonuses based on sales and revenue targets and removing any requirement to disclose these incentives.

Senator Cormann's reforms will allow commissions on execution services, extend grandfathering provisions so that these commissions can be traded, extend the already broad exemption for basic banking products so that it applies to all staff and remove the opt-in requirement, bringing back trailing fees. We will not allow Senator Cormann's audacity to roll back basic protections for Australian consumers, and nor should this Senate.

Question agreed to.