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

Thank you, Mr Speaker. They are shaking with fear but not shaking as much as the legal profession are in anticipation at the hundreds of millions of dollars in fees. The member for Isaacs and his colleagues will be delighted. The reality is this: we are dealing with the issue of bank misconduct. We are not having a royal commission. We are taking action. The one-stop shop, the Financial Complaints Authority, will see Australian consumers and small businesses with complaints against banks getting action, getting a result, right now. Our new rules that deal with the remuneration of senior executives in banks put on them a responsibility to be accountable for malfeasance in their institution at a level that has not been seen before. There have been many reviews and inquiries, and we know what has gone wrong with the banks. What Australians need now is action. They need action, and they need action right now—and that is what we are delivering: action now that will protect small businesses and protect consumers. It will protect Australians from being ripped off by banks. It will protect them when they have a claim. It will give them the opportunity to be heard and to get a result.

The honourable member opposite knows that he has been left behind on this issue of banking accountability. He has no policies and no solutions. He has a call for a royal commission, which will enrich the legal profession, cost hundreds of millions of dollars, take many years and end up, no doubt, recommending the types of measures that are already in this year's budget. The difference is this: we are getting on with the job. We are governing. We are delivering. We are protecting consumers. We are protecting small businesses. We are holding banking executives to account, and we are doing it right now. The only protection racket that is being run at the moment is by the Leader of the Opposition and by the banks and the legal profession who want to obfuscate and delay. We are getting on with the job. We are defending the Australian people. We are changing the law to protect them to ensure that banks live up to their obligations to serve the people as faithfully as they should.

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