George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

It's scarcely necessary to say, in relation to a question coming from, of all people, Senator Kim Carr, that I don't accept any of the premises of the question. Nevertheless, I can advise the Senate that the Prime Minister announced this morning that the government will establish a royal commission into the alleged misconduct of Australia's banks and other financial services entities. The commission will consider the conduct of banks and insurers, financial service providers and superannuation funds, not including self-managed superannuation funds. It will also consider how well equipped regulators are to identify and address misconduct. It will not inquire into other matters such as the financial stability or the resilience of our banks.

The government has taken this action to further ensure our financial system is working efficiently and effectively. All Australians have the right to be treated honestly and fairly in their dealings with banking, superannuation and financial services providers. The highest standards of conduct are critical to the good governance and corporate culture of those providers. The royal commission will take a sensible, efficient and focused approach, investigating misconduct and practices falling below community standards and expectations. It will not be a never-ending lawyers' picnic. Let me make this clear: we will ensure the commission will not defer, delay or limit any proposed or announced policy legislation, or regulation that we are currently implementing. The government will complement the existing actions—