Independent South Australian senator Nick Xenophon has confirmed that he does not support the Senate Economics Committee report on the Future of Financial Advice (FoFA) reform.
Xenophon said that he does not support “the government’s FoFA repeal legislation, nor the Senate Economics Committee report.”
The South Australian senator did not table a dissenting report, which was interpreted by some as tacit support to the Committee’s report.
With 33 representatives in the new Senate coming in on July 1, the Coalition government will need six extra votes to approve the amendments to the financial advice law.
Labor and the Greens are opposing the reform, which means that the government will need to lobby the independent senators to get the support it needs.
The final law is expected to pass during the winter sitting period, although the exact timing will depend on the government’s agenda.
Senator Xenophon joined Labor and the Greens on Wednesday and voted down a bill to abolish the profitable Clean Energy Finance Corporation, which invests in renewable energy technology, offering this way the government a double dissolution trigger.
In the meantime, in this year’s Readers Digest commissioned survey of 1200 Australians in order to find the most trusted people in the country for the year, Nick Xenophon was deemed to be Australia’s most trusted pollitician in 68th spot. Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd came in at 76 while Prime Minister Tony Abbott was 79th.
Politicians, along with business people, rarely climb above 60th spot of the Readers Digest survey averaging 4.1 out of 10 on the trust score.
The top spot in this year’s survey went to Dr Charlie Teo, neurosurgeon and founder of the Cure for Life Foundation, scoring an average of 7.9 out of 10. It is the 10th time running that an Australian medical specialist has taken the top position in the Readers Digest Survey, with medical researchers and advocates making up the bulk of the top places.
