Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I know what Senator Macdonald, who is sitting beside me, is thinking. Senator Macdonald is thinking exactly the same thing I'm thinking: Australians have the right to be confused when they hear about the position of Labor senators this afternoon. After all the barking from Labor senators and others in the community about the need for a royal commission, you would have thought, with the government having delivered a royal commission, that they would have been in this place applauding and saying, 'This is a responsible and necessary thing to do', because that would have been the consistent position. If Labor had come into this place supporting the royal commission, that would have been consistent with the sorts of things they've been saying for many months with regard to the need for a royal commission. But, of course, Labor are not consistent. Labor are not consistent on this issue, and they're not consistent on other issues.

It's been clear to me and others that the community and customers of banks require that their issues are better addressed, including with regard to some of the decisions that banks are taking, how banks treat customers and how banks are balancing the competing interests of looking after shareholders and shareholder value in our banking system while at the same time responding to the very genuine concerns and needs that customers of banks have raised themselves.

This is Tuesday of the last sitting week for the year. We only have one more question time tomorrow and then another question time on Thursday—and I know that Senator Macdonald shares my interest in making sure that that is the end of the parliamentary sitting period for this year so that we can get back to our communities and get back to northern Queensland, in Senator Macdonald's case, and Western Australia, in my case. I thought Labor was off to a very good start in question time this afternoon when Senator McCarthy talked about personal income tax cuts. You would have thought that the government talking about and making plans and preparations for personal tax cuts for Australians would be a good thing and would be the sorts of things that people in this place would stand up for and endorse—but no; Labor senators tried to suggest that the government putting its mind to personal tax cuts was a bad thing.

I would argue that personal tax cuts are not only necessary for Australian families; they are actually timely for Australian families. When you reflect upon the success—