An industry stakeholder has blasted the "disgraceful" ACCC decision allowing mandatory MFAA membership for some brokers, but has assured brokers the broader market will not be affected.
FBAA president Peter White expressed disappointment at the ACCC's decision to allow controversial third-line forcing notifications requiring Aussie and Mortgage Choice brokers to be members of the MFAA. But White said most brokers have nothing to fear from the ruling.
"In one respect, it's not a big deal. It does not impact the broader industry at all. It purely relates to Aussie and Mortgage Choice, and if you're not involved with those two this is irrelevant to you," White said.
However, White said the decision was disappointing "on a philosophical level", arguing that no brokers should "be forced" into membership with a particular association. He also argued that the decision could have a broader impact given the position the two franchise brokers hold in the marketplace.
"Aussie and Mortgage Choice may be the minority, but publicly and by way of advertising and market presence, they're two of the largest and most powerful companies," he said.
Regardless of the impact, White said the decision would stand and there may be little recourse. He admonished the industry for failing to be more vocal on the issue.
"The disappointing thing from my point of view is we were one of the very few submissions to the ACCC from the marketplace. Given that the upheaval we saw among brokers was enormous, virtually none of that was communicated in a submission," White said.
While some brokers did put forward submissions, White commented that they were often framed incorrectly.
"The ACCC doesn't give a rats about whether or not this affects a broker. They want to hear how it affects consumers and whether it's detrimental," he said.
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