Josh Frydenberg (Kooyong, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Wentworth for his question. He brings great experience to this place not only in business but as a diplomat representing our country abroad. It's the Australian dream to own your own home, but many of us cannot do it without the help of a bank. But we expect our banks to do the right thing by their customers. But what we have seen in recent times is the banks not passing on in full the rate cuts that have been announced by the RBA. The Australian people are sick of this merry dance where the RBA reduces rates, political leaders and the RBA themselves call on the banks to pass them on in full, and the banks ignore that advice. So now we are getting under the hood of the operations of these banks by giving the ACCC the ability to conduct this inquiry with its particular powers to compel important information from the banks; to understand the pricing arrangements, the difference between the back book and the front book, between the advertised rate and the actual rate paid by customers; to see what the costs of funds are for the banks, particularly given the RBA says that they are now at historic lows; and also to see if there are any other barriers to customers switching between banks where they can get a better deal. That is the purpose of this ACCC inquiry.

Getting a better deal from the banks for customers is part of our economic plan to create a stronger economy, including providing the most significant tax cuts that this country has seen in more than two decades—tax cuts which those opposite oppose. There are a 10-year, $100 billion pipeline of infrastructure; 80,000 new apprenticeships; cutting red tape and improving the ease of business, particularly for small businesses across the economy; and opening up new markets for our exporters given that one in five Australian jobs are connected to trade. We as a government have been able to enter into new free trade agreements with Indonesia, with the 11-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership, with South Korea, with Japan and with China, creating enormous opportunities for new jobs right across the economy. Our economic plan has helped create more than 1.4 million new jobs since we've come to government. We'll continue to implement our economic plan, creating more jobs and creating a stronger economy for all Australians.

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