Derek McDowell (Labour)

I second the amendment. I understand that it deals with the strategic plan to be presented by the consumer director on an annual basis. It seems reasonable to include the provision contained in Senator Higgins's amendment.

One of the difficulties with financial services is that those who use them – I refer to individual consumers rather than institutions – frequently have a limited notion of what they are buying. They rely heavily on the advice of so-called experts – sometimes they are experts – and they frequently possess no information of an objective kind. Information about what happens in other jurisdictions and the products on offer there is often not available to the average consumer. It would, therefore, be reasonable to include an assessment of best practice in other countries in the strategic plan of the consumer director.