Government MPs have prepared questions for the big four that will pull focus from the hot topics the opposition wants to pursue
The heads of Australia’s big four banks will appear before a parliamentary committee in Canberra this week, starting on Tuesday.
Malcolm Turnbull asked them to appear in response to political pressure for a royal commission into the banking industry.
He maintains there is no need for a royal commission. He says the hearings will be an annual event, and that will ensure regular parliamentary scrutiny of the major banks.
But Labor and the Greens are critical of the process. They say the hearings will only be a “show” for the government to appear as though it’s getting tough on the banks.
They say the 10-member committee is weighted heavily with Coalition members – the Coalition has six members, Labor three and the Greens one.
They say each committee member will only have 20 minutes to ask questions of each bank chief, so that leaves little time for prickly questions from Labor or Greens MPs. They say that amount of time is insufficient to tackle serious issues such as insurance scams and ripoffs, the CommInsure scandal, multimillion-dollar pay packages and incentive structures for bank employees that encouraged fraud.
They say they’ll do what they can with their time.
The Labor MP Matt Thistlethwaite will be presenting fresh evidence from whistleblowers to show that scandals and unethical behaviour are still occurring in the banking industry.
The Greens MP Adam Bandt says a prima facie case has already been made for a royal commission so it’s up to bank bosses to dissuade committee members of the need to continue pushing for one.
But Coalition MPs will approach the hearings differently. They have prepared questions that will steer the discussion away from the fiery topics the Greens and Labor want to pursue.
They want to keep things calm, measured and focused on microeconomic issues such as competition between the banks and how easy it is for customers to switch between them.
They say a stable financial system should take precedence, and they also want to know how effectively the system is working for customers. The most emotional topic the Coalition wants to explore is the redress for consumers who have been victims of poor bank behaviour.
They have already flagged that they’re interested in the idea of a “one-stop shop” for financial customers who feel mistreated.
They are planning to raise the idea of a banking tribunal – now being considered by a panel chaired by Prof Ian Ramsay, which is reviewing the financial system’s external dispute resolution and complaints framework.
It shows the difference between the government and the
opposition – generally speaking, the government will be focusing on the
microeconomic and the future; Labor and the Greens will be focusing on scandals
they say haven’t been addressed properly.
Steven Münchenberg, the chief executive of the Australian Bankers’ Association, says bank chiefs hope they will be allowed to explain “in a measured, calm way” how they have responding to serious problems in the financial advice industry.
They also hope to explain how interest rate decisions are made, and how tougher prudential regulations have made banks stronger but have put pressure on margins.
“Our main concern is this just descends into a political exercise of the government and opposition attacking each other,” Münchenberg told Guardian Australia.
“Bill Shorten has come out today saying he’ll never stop pushing for a royal commission, so the signal that sends us is that it doesn’t matter how comprehensive the improvements are the industry makes, for whatever reason he’ll continue to push for a royal commission even if the issue’s already been dealt with.”
The committee chair, the Liberal MP David Coleman, says he wants the hearings to be well-run and professional to set a serious precedent for subsequent hearings.
Turnbull has been emphasising the fact that the hearings will be an annual event because that means they’ll change Australia’s banking and political culture for the better.
This week’s hearings
- Tuesday Commonwealth Bank 2pm-5pm
- Wednesday ANZ 9.15am-12.15pm
- Thursday NAB 9.15am-12.15pm, Westpac 1.15pm-4.15pm
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