Malcolm Roberts (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Hansard source

As a servant to the people of Queensland and Australia, I want to discuss this Social Security (Administration) Amendment (Protecting Consumers from Predatory Leasing Practices) Bill 2020 that aims to put a stop to some predatory lenders. It's a topic new to me and I'm not familiar with it, and on the surface it seems a laudable aim to protect people with disability or cognitive impairment, or who are otherwise disadvantaged. I feel disappointed and sad about predators who lend, taking advantage of vulnerable people. It doesn't meet my need for integrity, fairness and compassion. Yet, while One Nation support the intent of this bill, we do not support the solution. Our office called Senator McAllister's office, and apparently there's been no research regarding the number of predatory lenders; the bill is apparently based on an unsighted ASIC report some years ago, lacking data.

This bill, as other speakers have pointed out, would stop all arrangements in a way that means some worthy and capable people may miss out altogether on necessary goods such as fridges. This bill would therefore disadvantage the people it is designed to protect unless there's a better solution in place. High-risk borrowers—people on low incomes, disadvantaged—mean high risk to lenders. That means high interest rates. In fact, these lenders may be the only alternative some people have. This bill impinges on a person's right to make those arrangements. There are some lenders in these circumstances who are decent people. There are alternatives to funding, and these need to be understood.

In short, this bill is too blunt an instrument. We believe that the issue that this bill attempts to address needs to be addressed through the Treasury, through consumer law. We're expecting that the responsible lending law that the government has circulated in draft form will address this in a better way for all Australians, not just those on Centrelink payments. So we won't be supporting this bill, and we look forward to the government addressing this through the Treasury, with a proper bill based on consumer protection.