No sign yet of Bernie Fraser superannuation review

Illustration: Rod Clement.

It’s hard to believe, but next week will mark the first anniversary of the commissioning of Bernie Fraser’s review into governance of the not-for-profit superannuation industry.

One year on, there’s still no sign of the thing.

Bernie Fraser has spent much of his life after the RBA training race horses.

“It seems that this review has disappeared into a black hole,” Minister for Revenue and Financial Services Kelly O’Dwyer told an unusually exciting superannuation conference in Canberra this week.

The Fraser review — which was commissioned by Industry Super Australia and Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees, not the government — was meant to report its findings in April.

A year ago, when the 2015 parliamentary sitting year was coming to an end, the Fraser review was used to give crucial crossbench senators (Nick Xenophon, Jacqui Lambie and the since dismissed Glenn Lazarus and John Madigan) cover to delay O’Dwyer’s attempt to pass the Coalition’s legislation to increase the number of independent directors on industry super boards.

So — with O’Dwyer announcing the government is reintroducing the governance bill — where is the thing?

Word is that an “extremely advanced” draft copy is, while not down a black hole, somewhere among the rural detritus on Fraser’s cattle and horse farm “Magpie Downs”, which sits about half an hour outside Canberra.

What on earth is going on?

“It’s Bernie being Bernie,” says one interested onlooker who has worked closely with Fraser, the distinguished Treasury secretary in the Hawke-Keating government, trusted Reserve Bank governor and, for a while, the face of industry super.

(“It’s the super of the future” — remember that?)

The 75-year-old Fraser — who has spent much of his life after the RBA training race horses — has made it known he wants to meet with O’Dwyer to discuss the legislation and his ­review.

And we hear he’s privately outraged that the meeting still hasn’t happened.

The minister, not unreasonably, seems to have judged the report a delaying tactic. Hilariously, it’s not clear whether those who commissioned the report could release it — even if they wanted to. “No one’s going to push Bernie around,” says one well-informed onlooker.

While the delay is undoubtedly funny, perhaps now is the moment for a reconnaissance mission.

Surely it would be worth finding out how much distance there is between Fraser’s and the government’s proposal.

And, after all, the crossbench — particularly Xenophon’s crucial block — have made it known that Fraser’s view will inform their vote. Perhaps it’s time to pack the gumboots and set off in the Comcar to Bernie’s farm for a cup of tea, an inspection of his studs and a chat — if only to make sure we’re not still not searching for his missing report when the 2017 parliamentary year is over.

Powerful friends

Interestingly, while Kelly O’Dwyer is keeping a distance from Bernie Fraser, the former RBA governor has found another more receptive audience.

NXT senators Sky Kakoschke-Moore, Nick Xenophon and Sterling Griff. Picture: Ray Strange.

Shortly after the 45th parliament rises for the year on Thursday, Fraser is scheduled to meet Nick Xenophon, who now — 12 months after the superannuation governance legislation was first pulled — is even more powerful, having been joined at the last election by his fellow NXT senators Stirling Griff and Skye Kakoschke-Moore.

Plus there’s Xenophon’s fourth amigo, senator Derryn Hinch. The meeting of crucial Xenophon senators and Fraser is scheduled for December in Adelaide — which seems like all the more reason for the minister to schedule a weekend at Bernie’s.

Old firm

The Senate grouping that deferred the super governance reform last year was something of a reunion of the self-described “Coalition of Common Sense” (or “COCS”), which had scuttled the then Abbott government’s financial advice laws.

John Madigan, Peter Whish-Wilson, Sam Dastyari, Ricky Muir, Nick Xenophon and Jacqui Lambie before a press conference on financial advice regulation in 2014.

Ricky Muir broke away, but the other COCS — Xenophon, Madigan and Lambie — came together to delay the superannuation governance review.

The King of the COCS was Labor senator Sam Dastyari — a Senate crossbench favourite — who helped bring the alliance together. In that eclectic coalition building effort, Dasher was helped by his then staffer Cameron Sinclair, who also had an excellent network with the crossbench and their advisers.

So it’s worth noting that — after a stint in shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen’s office and a European vacation — Sinclair is now working as a public affairs adviser for Industry Super Australia, just in time for this latest battle.

Super moves

After this, we’ll try not to write another word about superannuation all year.

Industry Super Australia chair Peter Collins.

Industry Super Australia chair Peter Collins took the blowtorch to the finance sector after Kelly O’Dwyer told a superannuation conference she would like super fund governance to be just like our listed banks.

“If super funds had been responsible for systemic failures in financial advice, failure to pass on interest rate cuts, excessive executive remuneration and other forms of profit gouging by banks, there would have been a royal commission into super funds in a flash,” said Collins at this week’s superannuation showdown.

While O’Dwyer was laughed at by her stakeholders, there was also a bit of sniggering in the lobbying world about Collins’s response. That’s because in addition to his ISA chair, Collins is the founder and chair of the Coalition-aligned lobbying firm Barton Deakin, which does a healthy trade with the finance sector.

As a scan of the register shows, Ian Narev’s CBA, John Neal’s QBE, David Livingstone’s Citibank and Craig Meller’s AMP are all Barton Deakin clients.

As the register shows, Collins — a former leader of the NSW Liberal Party — doesn’t actually do any lobbying for the firm.

That fun belongs to Matt Hingerty, David Alexander and the gang.

While still the chair, Collins has notably loosened his ties to the lobbying shop this year.

Ahead of this year’s takeover of Barton Deakin’s parent company STW Group by the Australian and New Zealand wing of Martin Sorrell’s WPP, Collins cashed out his significant stake in the business he founded — just as Bruce Hawker did years ago at sister firm, the Labor-aligned Hawker Britton.