Nick Sherry (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting on Deregulation) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Xenophon; I am very glad you have asked this question. Firstly, it is on the issue of a case I cannot go to because it is before the courts. What I can say—and I will outline it in great detail—is that the government has legislated. In fact, the Labor government has carried out the most extensive legislative overhaul of financial consumer credit laws this country has seen in 100 years, and they commenced on 1 July 2010 so I do not accept the assertion in the last part of your question.

The new laws include wide-ranging powers to overrule unfair terms in credit contracts. The National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 commenced on 1 July 2010. It provided a simpler standard national regime for consumer credit regulation and it also implemented new responsible lending obligations to help protect consumers from taking on more debt than they can afford. This reform package I might say, with some modesty, began when I was the Minister for Superannuation and Corporate Law—