For more than four years the Government has been promising a compensation scheme of last resort for victims of financial malfeasance.

Yet again, the Government has failed to even get to the start line.

Josh Frydenberg promised to have draft legislation ready by July 1 so consultation can begin and laws passed by year’s end.

But there’s no draft legislation and no indication of when the Government intends to get its act together.

This Government is great at announcing plans but incapable of implementing them.

When the 2017 Ramsey Review recommended a compensation scheme in 2017, Scott Morrison announced he’d bring it in.

When the Hayne Royal Commission recommended again it in 2019, Josh Frydenberg announced he’d bring it in.

Victims who’ve lost their life savings to fraudsters and rip-off merchants deserve more than half a decade of empty promises.

They need a Government who says what it means and does what it says.

Australians now know Scott Morrison was having them on when it said he would enact the recommendations of the Banking Royal Commission.

He’s already trashed the Commission’s first recommendation, to keep Responsible Lending Obligations on banks intact.

Now that he’s turning his back on his long-promised compensation scheme, the message is clear.

He never intended to implement the Royal Commission findings.

Helping victims has never been a priority.

Giving financial professionals clarity and certainty is not on his radar.