Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I would have thought the honourable member might be interested in this response. The government response to the events of last October, following the implosion of Lehman, ‘Black Friday’ on stock markets and the grave crisis we faced in this country as a consequence of that, included actions to provide guarantees for depositors right across the country for the first time in the history of the Commonwealth. He asks a question as to what was missing in terms of the regulatory environment when this government was elected to office. Where was a deposit insurance scheme on the part of those opposite? When the Liberal Party occupied the treasury benches, how many times was a deposit insurance scheme recommended—one, two, three, four, five times? The reason they did not is that the banking industry got into their ear and said it was too expensive; they did not want to do it. As a consequence, we actually found ourselves on the cusp of this crisis in September and October last year without adequate consumer protection for depositors across the country. That is why the government had to act.

The honourable member asked a question about what actions we have taken to improve financial regulation in this country. I would think that the 13 million or so deposit holders across the country, all the men and women in the gallery here today and those listening to the broadcast who have deposits in banks, building societies and credit unions will be pleased by the fact that a government at last acted to provide that level of security to the Australian financial system. That is one element of our actions.

We have also sought to undertake other actions, which have been frustrated by the member opposite, including the proper provision of financial support for the commercial property sector in Australia. I say to the Leader of the Opposition: as he looks at the number of firms out there in the construction industry with jobs at risk of being lost through the nonsupply of capital, he should ask himself the question of why he has acted so negatively and destructively to undermine the Australian Business Investment Partnership. It was supported by the Property Council and supported by business groups across the country. At this time of crisis in financial markets, we needed a special form of market intervention of the type which is put together with the private sector. Of course, this was blocked and voted down by those in the Senate.

See this speech in context