Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

In the course of question time today, the Treasurer once again claimed that the opposition had opposed the bank guarantees. As I said in personal explanations in June and August, the fact is that the Guarantee Scheme for Large Deposits and Wholesale Funding Appropriation Bill 2008 was brought into the House on 25 November by the government, following a call from the opposition on 17 November, in which I pledged bipartisan support. It was expressly supported by all the opposition speakers and carried without dissent on 25 November. As far as the guarantee for retail deposits is concerned, the opposition also voted for the enabling legislation. The point of difference between the opposition and the government was on the level of the cap of the retail deposit guarantee. Our contention was for it to be $100,000, whereas the government’s cap was unlimited in the first instance and then reduced to $1 million.

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