Relative Return Unplugged: Guillotine cuts RBA in 2

Financial Services Podcast Network

In this episode of Relative Return Unplugged, co-hosts Maja Garaca Djurdjevic and Keith Ford break down some of the legislation that passed during the government’s last-minute guillotine motion, including the measures to restructure the Reserve Bank into a two-board system. As the parliamentary year came to a close last week, the government rushed 31 bills through the Senate on Thursday night, followed up with a 32-minute sitting in the lower house on Friday. Among the flurry of bills was the controversial measure to create separate monetary policy and governance boards at the RBA.

We explore the process that ended in this result, the reaction from economists and the opposition, and whether critics are right that the government will use the likely March start date for the new structure to stack the board ahead of the federal election.

Listen as they discuss:

• Why even the perception of political interference could damage the credibility of the bank.
• Whether the objective of superannuation will impact future legislation in the space.
• The government’s latest announcement on financial advice reform detailing how a new class of advisers will operate.