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

The clock is ticking for this government in more ways than one. There are now just eight days left for this government to be true to its word and introduce the small-amount-credit contract laws legislation that will see millions of Australians given the protection they need when taking out a small loan. As it stands under this government, the loan sharks have been left to wreak havoc in the out-of-control payday loans industry, with over 800,000 Australians currently being taken advantage of. In fact, it is now 1,207 days since this government announced a review into the payday loans sector, but it has since caved in to the loan sharks, with nothing on the horizon to suggest any changes. This is despite promises from Minister O'Dwyer, promises from the now-deputy Prime Minister and promises from the then-minister Michael Sukkar, writing to Queensland state MPs earlier this year to state that legislation will be progressed this year. There were also promises from former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who wrote to me in July this year promising that legislation would be introduced this year, which means Prime Minister Morrison now has just eight days left to come good on the government's four promises made in public in black and white. If he does not, it just proves that it's a shallow, deceitful, untrustworthy government that simply does not care about honouring its word or protecting Australian consumers. No wonder this government is in such a mess when it's failing to honour its promises to protect Australians from the loan sharks.

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