Milton Dick (Oxley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm delighted to enter the debate about the Treasury Laws Amendment (2018 Measures No. 3) Bill 2018 and I want to thank the member for Fenner, in particular, for moving the amendment to the motion for the second reading, which was moved to highlight the fact that there are a number of issues where the government is not delivering on action for consumers. In my speech on the amendment today, I'm going to focus on a couple of key issues that are very important, I believe, for consumers not only in my home state but right across the country. They are two issues that I've been speaking on and championing for some time because I've seen the impact firsthand, and because I believe governments should take action, where appropriate, to protect consumers but also ensure that businesses and small businesses are protected. They, of course, are the issues of cracking down on payday lenders and of requiring car manufacturers to share technical information with independent mechanics on commercially fair and reasonable terms, with safeguards that enable environmental, safety- and security-related technical information to be shared with the independent sector.

I have spoken about these issues in this place. At every opportunity that I get to demonstrate my commitment to the protection of consumers and businesses, I will take that opportunity. In moving the second reading amendment, the member for Fenner made it very clear how this government has let down consumers and continues to do so on a daily basis. This includes the government's failure to commit to a full suite of measures to strengthen the consumer watchdog. On this side of the chamber, we welcome the adoption of our policy to increase penalties, which we announced over two years ago. But the government is still falling well short of community expectations for the protection of consumers, as I said, in many areas.

Perhaps the most notable of these is the absolute failure by the government to crack down on out-of-control payday loans. I now put on the record in the House of Representatives that it's now been 1,055 days since the government initiated the review of the payday loans industry in this country. Despite repeated promises made by the government, including by the now Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister for Revenue and Financial Services, that we would see action to clamp down on the payday loan sharks, we've yet to see any decisive action. It was only earlier this week that we heard on ABC Radio that we heard of the heartbreak and pain these shonky lenders are causing everyday Australians like Jane, a childcare worker who took out a payday loan to cover a few bills and has ended up with over $10,000 in debt.

I'm delighted that the assistant minister who has responsibility for cracking down on payday loans has entered the chamber, because—

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