Just days before a national election, Australia’s opposition Labor party is being criticised for its lack of formal policy on the cryptocurrency industry.
The Prime Minister Scott Morrison is expected to fire the starting pistol for a Federal election this weekend. However, at this point, the Australian Labor Party (ALP) is far ahead in the polls, and their crypto policies are far from comprehensive.
According to new Gemini data, at least 18 percent of Australians have invested in cryptocurrency at some point, making cryptocurrency an election issue that cannot be ignored.
Mark Carnegie, a crypto venture capitalist, stated this week at the Australian Financial Review Cryptocurrency Summit that he believes crypto should be a key talking point for election candidates.
Stephen Jones, the ALP’s Shadow Minister for Financial Services, reacted angrily to the assessment, saying that if the ALP won, it would consider crypto as part of a broader overhaul of digital payments, such as Apple and Google’s wallets.
Jones also stated that the ALP would consider including cryptocurrency as a financial product, bringing it under the jurisdiction of the Australia Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
In response to the headline of an AFR report on the subject, Government Senator Andrew Bragg tweeted, “7 words is not a crypto policy.”
Last year, Senator Bragg led an Australian Senate Committee inquiry that recommended broad, sweeping changes to crypto legislation. The government announced in December that it supported six of nine reforms, including a licensing regime for crypto exchanges, laws to govern decentralised autonomous organisations, and a common access regime for new payment platforms.
Senator Bragg believes the opposition is unprepared to deal with the cryptocurrency industry. “With the exception of a few throwaway lines, Labor has no serious agenda for digital assets.” The Australian people have been kept in the dark about Labor’s crypto policy. It is consistent with their economic strategy, which is a lack of a strategy.”
Senator Bragg added that the ALP’s lack of clear direction for the crypto industry could cause the country to fall behind other countries competing for skilled workers in the industry.
Senator Bragg also stated that “Unless we act quickly, Australia risks losing investment and talent to other countries.” The Coalition’s policy puts us ahead of the competition, while the ALP’s policy void means Australia loses.”
He stated that his party’s strategy includes consulting with industry stakeholders before making any final decisions, but that his cohort is “ready to act. “Instead of treating cryptocurrency as a financial product, the Liberal plan appears to take an educate-then-incubate approach to crypto policy.
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