A notice of motion filed by NSW Nationals Senator John Williams in the Senate yesterday calling for a Senate inquiry into ASIC’s handling of misconduct at Commonwealth Financial Planning was supported by ALP Senator Doug Cameron and Greens Senator Christine Milne, and passed unopposed.
In a brief response, ASIC said it “welcomes the Senate inquiry and looks forward to the opportunity to provide information on what we do and what we seek to achieve”.
In an opinion column published by Fairfax media this week, prior to yesterday’s motion, ASIC deputy chairman Peter Kell defended the regulator’s handling of the issue.
“Could we have acted sooner or reached a quicker outcome? I can understand why any investigation, whether it takes 12 months or 12 days, is never going to seem fast enough for those suffering the stress of lost money,” he said.
“But [Commonwealth FP] was a complex matter and cases like this involve much background work before a public result is achieved.”
The motion followed strong criticism in parliament earlier this week from Liberal Party Senator David Johnston, who described ASIC as “a problem” and “a kangaroo court of the worst possible type”.
“[ASIC’s] administration and management have been of very serious concern to many in this parliament, and particularly in this Senate chamber for some time now,” he said.
Criticising the time and expense involved in several prosecutions, Mr Johnston asked “who is running this kangaroo court?”
Mr Johnston also questioned the appointment of Greg Medcraft as ASIC chairman, which he said was the result of Prime Minister Julia Gillard deciding “to give the job to a mate without going through the open, merit-based public sector appointment process … It is a $700,000-a-year job that was not advertised and was given to a mate”.
“This kangaroo court that is ASIC needs to front a parliamentary inquiry. These matters need to be put on the table.”
