Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

subpoena documents, examine witnesses and write a report. That is all it can do. It cannot compensate anyone. I was about to say it cannot write a cheque. The only cheques that are written in respect of royal commissions are to the lawyers, and they do very well out of it. A royal commission is designed to inquire into something that has gone wrong, and of course there are plenty of opportunities where that can be done. But what we have here in the financial services sector, in the banking sector, is the most regulated part of our economy, bar none. And we have very powerful regulators. With respect to the banks—the Leader of the Opposition's current target—we have ASIC, with enormous powers that go well beyond those of a royal commission, and you could say the same about APRA and, of course, the Reserve Bank. They are highly regulated.

Of course ASIC is undertaking prosecutions and investigations. It is banning people from being financial advisers. It has all of the levers that it needs to deal with people who have done the wrong thing, and it continues to do it. Of course, the critical thing for people who have had a raw deal from banks or financial advisers is to get some compensation, or to get some recompense or recognition. A royal commission can do none of those things.

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