Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister's talking points for today say, 'The major banks have decided to put their profits before their customers.' If that's the case, why did the Treasurer say, just nine days ago, 'I'm not focused on new inquiries,' only to announce a new inquiry on interest rates today?

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

On this side of the House, we are focused on consumers. We are focused on delivering Australians lower borrowing costs. For the Labor Party, you had the member for Rankin out there last week calling for higher levies on the banks. For every question the Labor Party has the same answer: higher taxes and higher levies.

The reality is that we have announced today a very significant new inquiry by the ACCC. This inquiry will be looking at the pricing of the nearly $2 trillion residential mortgage market. What we need to understand better is the difference in prices that the banks offer their existing customers and new customers, otherwise known as the 'front book' and the 'back book'. What we need to know in better detail is the difference between the advertised price and the actual price paid and we need to understand if there are barriers to customers switching banks in order to get a better deal. On this side of the House, we stand for loyal bank customers and getting the best possible deal for them.