Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation) Share this | Hansard source

I cannot speak for meetings the Treasurer has, but obviously the Treasurer would meet regularly with businesspeople and people who operate in the financial sector. That is obviously an important part of his job, and he has made that clear. But I think the issue here is not what explanation the banks would offer—I think people are aware of that; that is in the public arena. The issue is whether people think that explanation is justified. The government has made it clear that, given where net interest margins are and given that they have returned to pre-crisis levels, it does not appear—