Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Georgiou for that question. It's a matter of public record that the government were of the view that there had been a lot of inquiries, that we knew the areas that needed improvement and that it was time for action. Indeed the Turnbull government has taken a lot of action, including by providing additional powers and resources to ASIC and various other measures. It's also a matter of public record that the situation developed such that it was our judgement that as all the circumstances emerged towards the end of last year, it was in our national interest to change our position, given what was likely to emerge in the context of the parliament at the time. We made a judgement to establish the royal commission. The royal commission is now underway. It's important that we let the royal commission do its work. At the end of the process, the royal commission will present its considered findings, having listened to all of the evidence from all sides, and will make a set of recommendations. The government, as we always do in these sorts of circumstances, will carefully consider what comes out of this process and respond appropriately.