Patrick Gorman (Perth, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to endorse the comments of the member for Kennedy, when it comes to the lessons to be learnt from Labor's very effective management during the global financial crisis. I think some of the member for Kennedy's words should be listened to very carefully by every member of this place.

Simply, Labor's amendments meet the expectations of the Australian people. They send a clear message to those engaged in misconduct, and they hold our standards amongst the highest in the world—something we should, of course, aspire to. They also support a fair business environment. If you're starting a business or if you're conducting an ethical, well-run business in the financial services sector, why should anyone be allowed to cheat the rules and just do a financial model that allows them to analyse and go, 'Oh, well, if we do this, but we've got this much cash in the bank, we're okay'? It's a disgrace.

Removing that cap is a very well-thought-through amendment from the shadow minister for financial services, and I commend her for it. I also commend her for spending 2½ hours with me at the Alexander Library in Perth, listening to victims of misconduct in the banking sector. The Alexander Library is named after Fred Alexander. He was a historian and someone who cared passionately about the roles of our institutions and the value of the Commonwealth as an institution itself. He wrote From Curtin to Menzies and After: Continuity or Confrontation? He would be pleased with the debate we're having today not only about how do we appropriately punish but also about how do we appropriately make sure that we reward good conduct. Ultimately, punishment is also about saying: 'If you do not do good conduct, you should be punished. If you do well, you should be rewarded.'

I'm aware that some members are keen to get on with this. I won't give you the full rundown of the Ernst & Young report Corporate misconduct—individual consequences, but it's well worth a read. I'll finish with some comments about the minister's reference to 'a big, fat zero'. He mentioned a big, fat zero. If you're thinking about a big, fat zero, let's also remember that there are a few other big, fat zeros flying around this building: a big, fat zero when it comes to payday lending action; a big, fat zero when it comes to funding for three-year-olds in preschool; a big, fat zero when it comes to legislation coming to this parliament to create an anticorruption commission; and a big, fat zero of sittings of this parliament in March 2019. One last big, fat zero that I think is inexcusable: there was a big, fat zero of hearings of the royal commission in Western Australia. That was unacceptable.

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