Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is a pleasure to see that the member for Burt also wishes to speak on this very important bill, the Treasury Laws Amendment (Strengthening Corporate and Financial Sector Penalties) Bill 2018. As I look at the proposals put by those opposite, I acknowledge that the revelations of the royal commission are of enormous concern. As somebody who used to work in the banking industry, I find it very disappointing that we have a situation where those who are entrusted to look after other people's money have been found to fall short of the expectations of our community in that space. That is why I think the bill before us and the penalties proposed in the bill, as outlined by the government, have enormous merit.

Importantly, in increasing those penalties what we are seeking to do is ensure that there is adequate deterrent against people doing the wrong thing by the people who have trusted them to look after their financial resources, in whatever case it may be—whether it is their superannuation funds, their bank accounts, or provision of finance and lending facilities. We can all in this place elicit a number of stories from those in our electorate who have suffered as a result of the many things that have been brought to the fore in the royal commission. I don't for one minute defend the people who have done the wrong thing. But, as the minister has rightly pointed out, a race to the bottom—in terms of 'our stick is bigger than yours', to use a phrase that is rather popular in this place at the moment—is not going to resolve the matter. The penalties have to be of a sufficient level to deter people from doing the wrong thing. It is sad that we even need to have a discussion about having penalties in place to deter people from doing the wrong thing. I would much prefer to stand in this place not because people have done the wrong thing but because people are doing the right thing and we can reduce or remove regulation. But that, sadly, is not the case. Much of the time, we spend our time in this place strengthening regulations or putting in place new regulations, because people are doing the wrong thing.

But I think, if we look at the balance of what's proposed in the government's bill, with the more than fivefold increase in penalties from $200,000 to $1.03 million, or three times the benefit gained, it's an enormously significant increase in the penalties being proposed. In the civil financial penalty space for corporations, it's a more than tenfold increase, from $1 million to $10.5 million, or three times the benefit gained, or 10 per cent of annual turnover capped at $210 million, whichever is the greatest.

The bill provides a very significant increase in penalties in addition to other measures that we have already taken, such as the Banking Executive Accountability Regime. Those opposite want to go even further just to prove they're tougher. I don't think that serves any useful purpose in ensuring that the legislation and the penalties we enact do the job that needs to be done, which is to deter these people from doing the wrong thing by the people whose money they're entrusted to look after. Equally, I say to the executives in the banking and financial services sector: it is time for you to stand up and do the right thing by the people you are entrusted to look after. At the end of the day, the most important thing that can occur is that those people step up to the mark and do the things necessary to engender and rebuild trust with the Australian people.

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