Royal commission into banks if Labor elected
April 12, 2016
http://www.northerndailyleader.com.au/story/3843344/royal-commission-into-banks-if-labor-elected/
INVERELL-based Senator John Williams knows the heartache of battling the bank first-and and says there is growing evidence for a royal commission into the banking industry.
Opposition leader Bill Shorten announced Labor, if elected, would hold a royal commission into misconduct in the banking and financial services industry.
Senator Williams, a long-time advocated for a royal commission, has been involved with a number of parliamentary inquiries into the financial industry.
He said with the evidence that’s been uncovered through recent parliamentary inquiries, it’s clear a royal commission would “disclose a lot more wrongdoing”.
“There would be a lot more details and a lot more evidence coming forward with a royal commission,” the Nationals senator said.
“Banks have a voluntary code of conduct, but how well do they adhere to that? “From the stories we are hearing through the parliamentary inquiries, the code of conduct is clearly not working.”
Senator Williams’ family battled the Commonwealth Bank in court for almost a decade after taking out a farm loan in Swiss francs that charged interest rates above 25 per cent.
“The hardest of all these experiences on the land was when we decided to take a foreign currency loan in Swiss francs in 1985, after some great sales pitches from some in the Commonwealth Bank,” he said in his first speech to parliament in 2008.
“I soon found out that I was in more trouble than the early settlers.”
Senator Williams said his history with the bank “had no bearing” on his pursuit of the banks. He said the public and politicians on both sides had come to him with their bank-related grievances.
Deputy Prime Minister and Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce said financial watchdogs, Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, were just as powerful as a royal commission.
However Senator Williams was involved in the 2014 parliamentary inquiry into the performance of ASIC, which tabled one of the largest reports ever seen in parliament.
He said one of the recommendations from the inquiry was a royal commission into the Commonwealth Bank.
“One of the criticisms from the inquiry was ASIC wasn’t doing its job properly – it is now doing much better because of the inquiry,” Senator Williams said.