Banking royal commission: planner Terry McMaster collapses on witness stand

A financial planning boss was last night in hospital after collapsing in the witness stand at the banking royal commission.

Paramedics take Dover Financial boss Terry McMaster away from the royal commission hearings in Melbourne. Picture: AAP

Financial planning boss Terry McMaster was last night in a Melbourne hospital after collapsing in the witness stand while giving evidence at the banking royal commission.

Mr McMaster, who runs Australia’s 10th-biggest advice outfit, Dover Financial, collapsed shortly before 4pm as he was being questioned about his business by counsel assisting the commission, Mark Costello.

He began breathing heavily, before turning “as white as a sheet”, according to one onlooker.

Moments before Mr McMaster collapsed, royal commissioner Kenneth Hayne had warned the witness he may risk breaching the law if he admitted to misleading customers in its so-called Dover Client Protection Policy.

In an at-times torrid session of questioning, Mr Costello had forced Mr McMaster to agree that the policy, which sought to excuse Dover from responsibility if customers lost money because of poor financial advice, was “Orwellian” in its nature.

Mr Costello asked Mr McMaster to agree if Dover’s attitude was to seek the maximum protection it could from any liability.

“Yes,” Mr McMaster said.

Mr Hayne then interrupted.

“Does it then follow that the document is itself misleading or deceptive? If it were misleading or deceptive it might draw attention to (the) relevant provision of the ASIC Act,” Mr Hayne said.

Mr Costello was midway through a question when Mr McMaster collapsed.

“Adjourn and call an ambulance,” Mr Hayne said. “Get an ambulance pronto. Move.”

Mr McMaster was given first aid by senior Australian Securities & Investments Commission executive Louise Macaulay, who was waiting her turn to give evidence.

At about 4.20pm, paramedics used a trolley to take a wan Mr McMaster from the court to a waiting ambulance.

“Sorry,” he said as he was loaded into the back of the van.

A man who appeared to be associated with Mr McMaster hurled abuse at waiting media, telling them to “f..k off”.

Mr McMaster was taken to a city hospital and was in a stable condition.

Dover is believed to be the target of a long-running and wide-ranging ASIC investigation.

The commission has heard evidence of Dover’s tendency to take on planners who left other organisations under a cloud, including Victorian racing identity Adam Palmer.

Mr Palmer, who worked for now-shuttered AMP subsidiary Genesys, secretly owned a property advice business, Property Saint, to which he referred his ­financial planning clients, the commission has heard.

Mr McMaster said that once he obtained “the full information” about Mr Palmer’s involvement in Property Saint, concerns about it “fell away”.

“We discovered it was genuine buyers’ advocacy, where Mr Palmer, through a related entity, was providing help to his clients to buy homes,” he said.