For some time now Australian voters have turned away from major parties in favour of independents and minority parties. Tired of years of spin, scandals, internal disunity and dysfunction, trust has been breached.

This election is shaping up as a replay of the last few with the polls predicting the winner will scrape over the line, be it Labor's Bill Shorten or the Coalition's Scott Morrison. A hung parliament or minority government based on crafty preference deals could well be the outcome.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten during the 2019 election campaign slug it out.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Unlike the past few elections this one is less Seinfeldian than the last. Headline policy differences this time are on meaty issues including climate change, education, health and tax issues.

But there are other policy differences that have received less airplay which are also important and need to be considered. They include wage fraud, the financial services sector, whistleblower protections and oversight of the Australian Taxation Office.

In all of them a common theme is rebuilding trust.

Take financial services. Both parties agree trust needs to be restored to the sector after a string of scandals culminated in a banking royal commission in 2018 that produced a set of recommendations in February 2019. While both major parties have agreed to accept the bulk of the recommendations, there are differences.

Chatime is embroiled in underpayment issuesCredit:Shutterstock

The latest was bubble tea operator Chatime, which is estimated to have underpaid workers up to $6 million in its corporate stores and many millions more across its franchise network.

If set up properly, this tribunal could become a powerful weapon in fighting wage theft, but it would need to address issues such as vulnerable workers on visas too afraid to come forward or workers who have been paid in cash and don’t have the payroll records to prove the rip off.

The $170 billion franchise sector is another big ticket area in need of reform after thousands of family businesses have gone to the wall due to an imbalance of power and inherent conflicts of interest.

A recent parliamentary inquiry recommended beefed up powers to the regulator and a re-write of the franchising code.

Both parties have agreed to back the appointment of a taskforce to advise on the various recommendations but the devil will be in the detail.

Ditto for the Australian Taxation Office, which needs an overhaul, particularly in its treatment of small business.

Both sides of politics have acknowledged a need for change.

Labor has promised to implement an independent second commissioner inside the ATO to conduct independent reviews of the its behaviour.

The loss of trust in business and politics is a phenomenon not limited to Australia. It is global and it is a matter of urgency.

It has also backed the Coalition’s decision to set up an external small business tax tribunal.

The loss of trust in business and politics is a phenomenon not limited to Australia. It is global and fixing it is a matter of urgency. Let’s hope whoever wins the federal election understands that and takes immediate action.

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