Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

I thank your gentle hand on the tiller of this parliament, Mr Speaker! We must bring this amendment to a vote because this country needs a banking royal commission. No more excuses. Look at the protection racket that this government are running for the big banks. We have had old Foghorn Leghorn, the Treasurer, saying he is tough on banks. If he were really tough on banks, he would do the one thing the banks do not really want—give them a royal commission.

Mr Morrison interjecting—

We've got Chavez over there saying he will put a tax on them. Well, you may well put a tax on them in this budget, but you are going to hand a lot back to them with the corporate tax cut. A Claytons banking tax cut is when you give them a tax levy in one year and hand it all back to them in corporate tax cuts over the next decade. The second best friend the banks have ever had is the Treasurer of Australia, but the best friend the banks have ever had is the Prime Minister. You have to ask yourself—and this is why we need to bring this on for a vote: why does the government fight so hard to protect the banks from a royal commission? What do they know that they do not want uncovered? Why is it that they will not have a royal commission into the banks?

I get to meet, sadly, with the victims of financial malfeasance. We, including members on the other side, get to meet all the time with them—farmers, small businesses, individuals and retirees. The banks will not correct their culture until they have a royal commission. On every issue, the banks will not correct their culture until they have a royal commission.

Mr Morrison interjecting—

While the Treasurer yells and bellows, we will never give up on having a banking royal commission. And maybe one day the member for Dawson might just do the right thing in Canberra rather than talking about it in Mackay and South Townsville.

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