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

The member for Dawson—a lion in Mackay and a mouse in Canberra. We know, deep down, that the member for Dawson knows that having a banking royal commission is the right thing. I think the member for Dawson knows what he should do, but, for whatever reason, just as we get to the opportunity to vote for that royal commission, there is a new excuse every time.

We know that the member for Dawson actually wants a banking royal commission and, to be fair to him, I suspect there are plenty more in the ranks of the government who do. But when your Prime Minister is an investment banker, who is from the banks, of the banks and for the banks, you will never in Australia get a royal commission while this country is run by the banks. Too many people have been ripped off too often. If there had been just one or two—or three, four, five or six—financial scandals then maybe you would say other measures worked. And, heaven knows, governments of all persuasions have looked at all the options. But there is a pathology in the banking system—

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