Ann: IOOF response to APRA notice and action, page-87

APRA and other regulators have been psychologically captured by those they regulate, and have been expecting great things. I can't imagine judges, police officers and prison guards being allowed to work for ex cons after they get out of jail for big money. For some reason we allow regulators to go and work for the big banks and financial institutions, and don't bat an eyelid, or we allow them to start consultancies that rake in big dollars helping those they regulated through the maze.

In the end the regulators are made up of normal human beings, who can fool themselves into thinking that they are regulating in an unbiased fashion, when really they have their eye on a well paid job or lucrative consultancy down the track.

We need to disallow these future or "forward" bribes (they know a bribe will be coming, even though they don't know what exactly it is) as soon as possible. They can go and work overseas if they want to rejoin the industry they regulated, but must recuse themselves from dealing in Australian affairs. Our nation is diminished greatly by regulatory capture. I think we need to treat the regulators like the judiciary and the police force and have the same expectations. Their incomes should be capped in Australia if they leave the regulator, and they should be treated like lawyers who have privileged information.

Senior members of the public service should have similar expectations placed upon them.

So our regulators are terrible - no surprise!