Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer to the Treasurer’s claim that he has been working on a second wave of banking reforms for some time but that he will not tell us what they are until after the parliament rises in December. Given that no-one knows what the first wave of banking reform was, and given that the government seems to have lost its way on banking with the four major banks implementing extraordinary interest rate rises above the RBA, why will the Prime Minister not release now her so-called longstanding plan for more banking competition?

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for North Sydney for his question. Presumably, at some point he will be explaining to the Australian people what he did or, rather, did not do when he was a minister in the Howard government with responsibility for financial services and consumer affairs. What he did not do would be a good explanation for the Australian people to hear, because it is only since he sat on the opposition front bench that he has cared for one minute about these matters. I use the terminology ‘cared for one minute’ deliberately, because it was only one minute’s consideration he gave until he ran out and blurted out his plan to reregulate interest rates and he has been back-pedalling to cover-up that brain explosion ever since.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Prime Minister will return to the question.

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In contrast, the government is facilitating competition in the banking sector. The member for North Sydney says he is not aware of what the government’s banking reforms to date have been. Let me go through them. The government acted to support small lenders by investing $16 billion in the residential mortgage backed securities market. That was done to help small lenders access more affordable funding at a very difficult time, as the world moved into a global economic shock with the global financial crisis. I know that before the member for North Sydney had his nine-point plan he had his four-point plan and he was calling for the abolition of this, but this is and has been very important to support small lenders. Then there has been the government’s financial claims scheme to protect the deposits of ordinary Australians.

Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Which you couldn’t do in 12 years!

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for North Sydney could not do it in 12 years, that is true.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The Prime Minister will resume her seat. The member for North Sydney on a point of order—

Government Member:

What’s it for?

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It’s on relevance.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for North Sydney waits like everybody else for the call at the dispatch box. He will now come to a point of order.

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise on a point of order on relevance. I ask the Prime Minister: why will the Prime Minister not release her longstanding plan now?

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Nearly the full 45 seconds were used with other comments that cannot have been debate because they would have been out of order but they formed part of the question to which a response can be directly relevant. The Prime Minister is responding to the question.

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Continuing to respond to the question I was asked about the government’s earlier wave of reforms, that wave of reforms also included the government’s financial claims scheme to protect the deposits of ordinary Australians, something that the Howard government failed to do over 12 long years. That earlier wave of reforms included the account-switching package that the government introduced in 2008 to help customers transfer their financial arrangements across banks. The government has also taken steps to develop a deeper and more liquid corporate bond market. That is going to help businesses to borrow from retail investors and reduce their reliance on borrowing from banks. The RBA introduced reforms in 2009 to make ATM fees more competitive and transparent, and fees such as those for using foreign ATMs have fallen significantly. Then of course there is the government’s work on unfair mortgage fees that keep people tied in to financial products that they no longer want when they decide to shop around. The government, having delivered these earlier reforms, will build on these reforms in a thoughtful way. I am not surprised that the member for North Sydney does not understand the government’s approach, because being thoughtful has never been his strong suit.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! I will not call the member for La Trobe until the House comes to order. In calling the member for La Trobe, I apologise to her on behalf of the House that she is not getting the respect that she asked that we all give each other in her first speech.