Alex Hawke (Mitchell, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister to the Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I simply reiterate that this bill is a worthwhile bill in itself. It does not address the issue of ATMs—it was not a recommendation of the Financial System Inquiry—and the member for Melbourne's simplified explanation of ATM fees is not able to be discussed in this debate today in the House. Simply getting up and putting your own particular view about one particular component of one particular report is not a way to make law in this country. It is not a fair way to make law or have a debate in this country. Mr Bandt's amendment tacked onto a bill about something else is not a way to run an economy, not a way to run a government, not a way to provide certainty and confidence for consumers or businesses. It is not really right for him to come in here and raise one aspect of one pet thing that might be of concern to him and suggest that we just tack it onto the back of a bill about something else. That is what the government's principal objection is here. We make no claims about the other matters that he raises, because this is not the forum to discuss them. It is very simple. It is not appropriate to come in here and just add something that is very complex, something that does bear discussion and consideration by government, something that does concern Australians, something worth considering in other forums in other ways, onto the back of something else and pretend we have had a reasonable discussion about it. There are many complex issues related to those matters.

I say to the House again that the government and the opposition have carefully looked at these matters in the Financial System Inquiry and the reason we have come to the same view is that that is the strong recommendation of Mr David Murray. I say to the member for Melbourne: you have many forums, you have many opportunities, you have many ways of raising those matters but it is not a good process, it is not good law, it is not good for the economy or consumers or businesses to be attaching minor pet issues onto the back of every single piece of legislation about other matters when people are unable to have the proper debates or the proper considerations about the issues that you want us to legislate on.

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