Letters for ASIC and ABA from Tony Abbott MP

Today I received a written response from the honourable Tony Abbott MP, following my meeting with him in January. I received a personal letter plus two others; one for me to send to the Australian Bankers' Association (ABA) and another for the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC). I am pretty blown away by this support from Mr Abbott. Last month I spoke with the adviser for Financial services at the Treasurer's office. The Treasurer had offered this consultation to me in his letter last December. His adviser was patient and considerate and we discussed the issue in detail. We agreed that the estate/executor is in limbo whilst awaiting the grant of probate from state government. We discovered that there is likely to be the same issue for those who are awaiting Power of Attorney to be granted, as there was for me awaiting Probate. The Treasurer's adviser informed me that there is no commonwealth law in this area, only state law, which I found quite strange. Overall he agreed that the issue sounded like it presents a gap in legislation. He agreed to brief the Treasurer on our conversation and for the issue to be included in their policy group discussions with the ABA and other industry bodies and policy experts. I will now be writing back to the Treasurer to include these new letters of support from Mr Abbott. I know things will not move quickly but I am now more confident that the issue is real, unfair and that a solution needs to be found. Thanks all for your ongoing support. It seems fitting to be writing this update today on the second anniversary of Michael's death. He would not allow such injustice if our circumstances were reversed.