Is the Coalition using up precious political capital protecting the big four banks?
ANNIKA SMETHURST, The Sunday Telegraph
June 25, 2017 12:00am
MALCOLM Turnbull hoped his plan to grill bank bosses in Canberra once a year would let him off the hook for a financial sector royal commission.
It was one of the government’s big moves in the constant battle to placate members of the Coalition who want the probe and a way to fend off populist calls for action from Labor, the Greens and the crossbench.
But in less than a year some government MPs, including frontbenchers, now feel the heads of the big four banks aren’t taking the process seriously. And they’ve let the Prime Minister know.
There is also concern that the Coalition is using up precious political capital protecting the banks who
are confident that while Turnbull is in The Lodge (he does spend some time there, I promise) they
will be safe.
“We are losing skin in protecting the banks, and for what?” one Liberal told me.
Things almost went pear-shaped for the government 10 days ago when Greens MP Adam Bandt, backed by crossbencher Bob Katter, tried to force debate on a commission of inquiry, which is like a
royal commission but reporting to Parliament, not the executive.
It is the probe of choice for Nationals MP George Christensen, who had flagged his intention to cross the floor to support it. As the division bells rang, Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce and Leader of the House Christopher Pyne cornered Christensen, urging him not to shuffle over to the other side of the Speaker’s chair.
Proud of their efforts to kill off debate — and without having to manhandle the shrinking yet sturdy Christensen — Coalition MPs had expected the banks to be thankful.
A couple of optimists on the frontbench even hoped the new head of the Australian Bankers Association, Anna Bligh, might even have a stern word with Labor for backing the parliamentary ambush.
But the only statement issued by Bligh that day was in a press release that celebrated “little change in bank fees” in the past 12 months. Hurrah!
“We didn’t hear boo. They (the banks) are of a view that the Coalition is locked in ... it’s irking people,” one
minister said.
Another weapon in the government’s arsenal was to ask former ACT chief minister Kate Carnell, the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, to investigate the adequacy of laws governing bank lending to small businesses. Unusually for a former pollie, Carnell is both well-respected and well-liked in political and business circles.
Before the probe she said she had been given royal commission-type powers to investigate any banks that treated small businesses with contempt. She also argued against a royal commission, saying it would take too long and there were businesses hurting now.
But Carnell’s inquiry, which found evidence of “unconscionable conduct” by the banks, appears to have been a turning point for the former Liberal leader, who has told me she is now open to the idea of a royal commission, if the government’s planned “one stop shop” doesn’t provide a good enough compensation or redress scheme for victims.
Carnell is still wary of some aspects of a royal commission but believes it would give
victims the chance to be heard, which should never be underestimated.
Whatever the motivations of Labor, the Greens and the crossbench — pure or political — they won’t give up on this. They know a royal commission is overwhelmingly backed by the general public and is a good wedge to fracture the Coalition.
The Turnbull government’s determination to protect the scandal-plagued banks sends a message that the Coalition is happy to protect an ungrateful industry that claims it has nothing to hide.