Arthur Sinodinos’ departure from the assistant treasurer role will not stop the Abbott Government’s attack on the Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) legislation, according to Save Our FOFA campaign director Christopher Zinn.

“[Finance Minister Mathias] Cormann will take over the running of this issue,” he told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“I know he was the one who was active in the consultative phase and I know he has a real fire in his belly about FOFA, stamping FOFA to death. I know he will pursue this very vigorously.”

It is fair that consumers have a chance to enter the debate, Mr Zinn says.

“People get frustrated by often assuming that protections are there when, in fact, as people in past collapses such as Storm Financial found, they actually weren’t.”

The consumer-based Save Our FOFA campaign is gathering pace and will continue beyond June, when the new Senate is constituted, Mr Zinn says.

“I believe that if people realise what’s happening around FOFA and how it affects them, it will help them see the benefit of contacting MPs and lobbying… to make sure the defence of FOFA gets as much ventilation as those who have sought to strike it down.”

While declining to reveal how many consumers have registered on the Save Our FOFA website, Mr Zinn says more than 100 did so in the first couple of hours after it launched.

He says three key protections are at risk: conflicted remuneration, opt-in rules and the best-interests duty.

Save Our FOFA backs opt-in provisions, under which planners must seek consent from clients every two years.

Changes to FOFA were tabled in Parliament last week as part of the Government’s red-tape amendments, which will go to a vote this Wednesday.

“My advice is this week will not be the end of it, because then there will be political argy-bargy continuing through to winter and the arrival of the new Senate,” Mr Zinn said.

Senator Sinodinos has left the frontbench while the Independent Commission Against Corruption investigates Australian Water Holdings – a company he was involved with before entering Parliament.