It may have been lost in the drama of a government rife with internal divisions on the eve of an election.

But while the ruckus over the religious discrimination bill dominated the headlines last week, another decision in the Senate on Thursday, to kibosh draconian new regulations over superannuation, will likely have far wider implications for most Australians.

In a huge blow for Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, the Senate decision to roll his regulations on how superannuation funds can seek advice has dented his reputation and curtailed his determined and long-running campaign to make life easier for our captains of industry.

Last week's Senate mutiny centred around what is known as proxy advisors, a handful of firms that provide voting advice to big investors and whose growing power has sent shivers of fear through the top end of town. Mr Frydenberg had tried to nobble them via a harsh new regulatory regime that came into force just three days earlier.

More on that later.

For years, company directors and executives have expressed a growing unease at the rising power of superannuation funds, big institutional investors and even ordinary everyday punters and their new-found willingness to call the shots.

Unlike days of yore, annual meetings in the past decade at times have become shooting galleries, with bug-eyed directors perched on what once was considered a pedestal and called to account on everything from pay to performance.

On occasions, there have been humiliating public dressings down. In extreme cases, such as Westpac's child sexual exploitation funding and Rio Tinto's destruction of Juukan Gorge, chairmen and chief executives have been delivered an ultimatum: leave now or be booted out.

Then there were the court actions. Shareholders, unwilling to wait for a tame and timid corporate regulator lacking willpower, 20 years ago decided to take the law into their own hands with class actions, particularly when they believed they had been misled or kept in the dark.

And then along came COVID. Desperate times called for radical action.

The shareholder meetings went underground, or virtual, which were much easier to control. To help cope with the unprecedented shutdown of commerce, the federal government suspended or relaxed regulations, particularly around insolvency and disclosure.

Read more:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-14/why-the-senate-vetoed-josh-frydenberg-superannuation-sting/100826920

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