Matt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Treasury) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Prime Minister, your government's giving a $17 billion handout to the big banks. Under your policy of giving tax cuts to big businesses, how much will go to AMP, and is now really the right time to be rewarding a company like that?

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I refer the honourable member to my earlier answer. I'm not going to go into specific matters which are currently before the royal commission, but as I said—and I'll repeat it—we are determined to ensure that the wrongdoing that has occurred, where customers have not been put first, does not happen again and that those who have done the wrong thing are held to account. Obviously the royal commission is operating but, leaving the royal commission to one side, we have beefed up the powers and capacities of the regulator.

In terms of major banks, I would just remind the honourable member that we have, in last year's budget, introduced and legislated a major bank levy which is raising around $1½ billion a year and, cumulatively, will increase to $10 billion by 2023-24—so a very substantial increase in tax paid by the major banks.