Deborah O'Neill (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Innovation) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to commence my remarks before we go to question time in response to the piece of legislation that's before the chamber at the moment, the Treasury Laws Amendment (Banking Executive Accountability and Related Measures) Bill 2018, commonly known as BEAR. I do wonder about the names that are given to some of the legislation around this place. You have to think that some bright spark must have decided the image of a bear—a great, fierce animal, standing up to the banking sector—might make for a good name for this bill and said: 'If we want to look like we're a tough, hardworking government and we're going to look after the banking sector and protect ordinary Australians, we'll call our legislation something fierce; let's call it the BEAR bill.' Well, that's what we've got.

Let me take you to a source that I think Australians should trust a lot more than the language games and the legislative games of this government. I want to take you to some comments by Choice, that very important consumer advocacy organisation in our society. This is what Choice had to say about what is really going on with this legislation that's before the chamber to be voted on probably at some time today. In asking the committee to assist them, Choice said:

We've one clear ask of the committee, and that is to give this BEAR real teeth. Treasury has restricted the application of the proposed BEAR so that it will apply to poor conduct or behaviour that is of a systemic and prudential nature. This misses the crucial element of the United Kingdom model that ties accountability measures to poor consumer outcomes, not just prudential matters.

We hope that the requirement for accountable persons to pay due regard to the interests of consumers and treat them fairly can be added to the BEAR. As it stands, what we've got is a bit of a teddy bear.

And that is the reality of what this government is putting forward today here in this parliament.

If those who are joining me here in the chamber were able to sit still and listen to the most recent contribution from the government, from Senator Williams, they would have heard a free-ranging and, I think, very honest assessment of the multitude of problems that have beset the banking sector across this nation. It has been a litany of failures. Every major bank that trades in this country, every single one of them, got a mention in Senator Williams' speech. What we didn't get from Senator Williams was anything about the teeth that are required to actually call that sector to account.

This is a cover piece of legislation, the sort of legislation that you might call a Clayton's piece of legislation that makes you look like you're doing something when you're not really doing it. This government are alive to the fact that Australians are very concerned about what's been going on in the banking sector. They want to look like they are doing something even when they aren't. We know that, in the last budget, this government announced that they proposed to introduce this legislation and they claimed it would enhance the responsibility and accountability of, in particular, the directors and executives.

The way that I feel about this legislation as a Labor senator is the way that parents often feel about the children that they love when they don't quite meet their expectations, where they've got enough love there in the relationship that they go, 'Well, it's not exactly what I was hoping for, but you've got pretty close to the mark, and that'll be okay.' This piece of legislation excuses the banks from genuine accountability. We have never, ever thought, for one moment, that what's proposed in this piece of legislation is adequate to do the job that needs to be done to provide proper protection for Australians through their banking sector.

Labor has long called for a proper banking royal commission and, when we return to consider this bill a little later, I will be making some extensive remarks about the way in which this government was dragged kicking and screaming to institute fake terms of reference for dealing with a banking royal commission. They haven't gone to the heart of the matter. Instead of taking on terms that Labor had out for public discussion for a long period of time, this government has provided a set of terms of reference that were essentially written by the banks themselves. So this piece of legislation is the best that the government can do, but it is nowhere near adequate to meet the needs of the Australian banking sector.

Debate interrupted.