Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I ask the minister whether he might, by the conclusion of the committee’s deliberation, furnish the committee with a list of the specific regional banks, credit unions or building societies which approached the government asking for this guarantee legislation. He has made a feature out of the fact that it is not the big four banks; it is right across the board, and I hear him talking about the representative organisations. But this is a matter that is so pressing that the government has voted down a Senate inquiry into it. It has to be through by Friday. I ask the minister to produce any evidence that shows that regional banks or those building societies or credit unions approached the government asking for this particular facility.

I turn to my second question. I know New Zealand has been mentioned as having this facility, and I ask: is that legislated? Then I ask: which other countries in the region have legislated in a parallel fashion?