Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Hansard source

We were enthusiastic—thank you, minister, we were. I look forward to working closely with the member for Banks in what will, hopefully, be a future coalition government to build upon the work that is being done in this term, to build upon the work—and the minister and I might diverge here—done in the previous coalition government. We did do some good things, and every Australian government, going right back to Howard and, no doubt, even before that, have done good things in the Pacific, because it's too important not to.

While I do respect Minister Wong—and she knows that—I pay acknowledgement to former foreign affairs minister Senator Marise Payne for the work that she did in the step-up campaign. It might not have been to the minister opposite's taste or liking, but she certainly did have her heart in the right place when it came to the Pacific. We all need to—it's not just those who sit in shadow ministry or ministry; every single one of us has an obligation to the Pacific. At every opportunity that we have, we need to bed down those relationships and make sure the Pacific knows—as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has often said—that we should be their first partner of choice. As the minister noted in his remarks, when disaster strikes, we are there with HMAS vessels, we're there with our men and women in khaki, providing fresh water, providing logistics and providing support. It's very important.

Several Western banks have scaled back or closed Pacific operations in recent years, leaving some nations without reliable access to global financial systems. I know how important our banking relationships are—I met with ANZ Bank representatives in Port Vila on my very first trip to Vanuatu, and I thank them on behalf of the nation for the work that they did. I know that what we need to do is ensure that, with legislation such as this and any other Pacific legislation, the Pacific knows that we are their best friends. We don't want to create opportunities for other nations who have less-than-ideal endeavours or vision for the Pacific than we do as Australia. We need to make sure the Pacific know that we're there for them in finance, infrastructure, funding, aid—and football! Good luck to the Kumuls, and good luck with the future Pacifica team in the National Rugby League.

The ANZ has, as the minister said, been a firm friend of the Pacific. I know NAB has been there. I know Westpac has been there. What we don't want to see is any other nation having an in there that we would otherwise not want them to have. The government has announced partnerships with ANZ, Westpac and Commonwealth Bank of Australia to support their operations in the Pacific. Thank you; that's good. Well done. In exchange for the guarantee, the banks will need to pay a fee to the Commonwealth. That's fair enough. It would guarantee that they would be called on if the banks or their subsidiaries suffered a default for the Pacific operations. It's too important to be suffering defaults. We need to have successful financial operations because it's not only good for the government and Pacific relations; it should be good for the banks. Banks have a responsibility—let's call it a social licence—to do the right thing in the Pacific, because banks make good money. Let's not beat around the bush. When you see the bottom lines that banks produce, they do very nicely, thank you very much, and they do very nicely because of the goodwill of Australian customers. They also do very nicely out in the Pacific, but, if they have to take a bit of a haircut on the Pacific, well, that's just a social licence that they have to continue to operate in Australia when they make the sorts of profit margins that they do. Let me tell you: if the Pacific doesn't go as well as what we would all like, then their profit margins in Australia might well be trimmed. People can read into that whatever they like, but I think our banking sector is smart enough to know exactly what I'm talking about.

By establishing a special appropriation in the Consolidated Revenue Fund, the legislation provides a framework for ensuring an Australian-bank-specific business or guaranteeing it. Its primary objectives—its main purposes—are to uphold banking services, particularly those crucial for trade and remittances, like that PALM money that goes back to Pacific Island nations, and to maintain economic connectivity for Pacific nations. The minister and I both know that this is of vital importance. While officials consider the likelihood of calling on the guarantee to be low, its main purpose is to keep the banks operating in Pacific Island countries where profitability can be challenging. Refer back to what I said before about the social licence to operate. Profitability can be challenging, but we call on those banks. We don't then need them to get all nervous if the profits aren't what they expect—if, indeed, they might have to suffer a little loss. Ultimately, in the long run, we all know that everything will be okay. Everything will be fine. They will make the money, and our PALM scheme will continue to operate. I know the minister and I have had differences of opinions over the number of hours worked and all that, but I think he and I also are as one that PALM needs to operate and needs to continue. It was an invention of the Gillard government, in fact, and we enhanced it and improved it. We certainly know how important those Pacific Australian Labour Mobility workers are to our nation. I say vale to the Wagga Wagga civic worker who died recently. But this is legislation which needs to be passed, and I thank the minister for bringing it to the House.

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