Assistant Treasurer and Financial Services Minister Stephen Jones has announced he will step down from his roles and leave parliament at the next federal election.
In a statement released on his ministerial website, Jones said he will not run for re-election after 15 years in politics and having been through five previous elections.
Jones was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2010 and served in a number of roles in opposition, including shadow assistant treasurer and shadow financial services minister, before taking on those roles in the current Labor government from 1 June 2022.
Prior to entering parliament, he was secretary of the Community and Public Sector Union from 2005 to 2010 and a lawyer for the Australian Council of Trade Unions from 2004 to 2005.
He said he was proud of his work in progressing marriage equality, gambling advertising reform, securing the steel industry and restructuring TAFE, and “as Assistant Treasurer, fighting scams, protecting workers’ superannuation, making financial advice more accessible and affordable, and strengthening consumer protections for all Australians”.
The Financial Advice Association Australia, Financial Services Council (FSC) and Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) thanked Jones for his focus on the financial services and superannuation sectors in parliament.
“I thank Minister Jones for his dedication to financial services and his consistent commitment to solving the extremely important challenge of getting more high-quality financial advice to more Australians,” FAAA chief executive Sarah Abood said.
“Of course, we have not always agreed, but the Minister has genuinely understood the value of professional financial advice and its importance to the economy and the country more broadly.
FSC chief executive Blake Briggs added: “The financial services industry has appreciated his collaborative and open approach when working with the industry over the past five years as both the Assistant Treasurer and as opposition spokesperson.
“The Assistant Treasurer can rightly point to a number of successes in his portfolio and the industry applauds his efforts in ensuring financial advice reform remained on the government’s agenda, legislating the first tranche of its response to the Levy review.”
ASFA chief executive Mary Delahunty labelled his tenure as a “transformative period of reform”.
“Minister Jones has been a true partner to the superannuation community, always willing to roll up his sleeves and engage with the complexities of the system,” Delahunty said.
“His commitment to collaboration and meaningful change has made a real difference for millions of Australians for generations to come.”
She said Jones worked closely with ASFA and industry on policy plans, which included increasing the superannuation guarantee to 12 per cent, super benefits on top of government-funded paid parental leave, advancing the payday super initiative and enshrining the objective of superannuation in legislation.