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Citizens Electoral Council of Australia

Media Release Tuesday, 22 August 2017

Craig Isherwood‚ National Secretary
PO Box 376‚ COBURG‚ VIC 3058
Phone: 1800 636 432
Email: cec@cecaust.com.au
Website: http://www.cecaust.com.au
 

Tell the Treasury:

Don’t ‘manage’ the banking crisis, avert it—pass Glass-Steagall now!

With more and more indicators pointing to an imminent crash of Australia’s housing bubble, which will trigger a collapse of the banking system, the Turnbull government is pushing to legislate “crisis management” powers for the bank regulator APRA (Australian Prudential Regulation Authority).

The Citizens Electoral Council is calling on all Australians who support the Glass-Steagall separation of banks to make a short submission to the Treasury on this legislation, with the message:

Instead of legislating powers to manage the inevitable banking crisis, the government should immediately enact a Glass-Steagall separation to avert it.

ABC’s 21 August Four Corners“Betting on the house” is the latest report that exposes the parlous state of the housing bubble, and the extreme exposure of Australia’s big banks to that bubble—the highest in the world.

The government has a draft bill, the Financial Sector Legislation Amendment (Crisis Resolution Powers and Other Measures) Bill 2017, to give APRA powers to ostensibly “resolve” a banking crisis if and when one occurs. These powers include the power to enforce a capital conversion, which relates to the “bail-in” of certain creditors, to keep the banks propped up. Bail-in is not yet legislated in Australia, nor is it the subject of this legislation, so who those creditors will be is not yet defined. In other jurisdictions, such as the EU, it includes “mum and dad” investors who were encouraged to buy special bank bonds for their retirement savings. In Cyprus in 2013 it even included depositors.

Any form of bail-in is insidious, as it forces the banks’ unsuspecting investors and customers to pay with their savings for the reckless and often criminally fraudulent practices of the banks that caused the crisis in the first place, while the banks carry on with those same practices!

It is insane to legislate powers to manage a banking crisis but not make the banks stop doing the things that are creating the crisis, such as gambling in toxic derivatives.

Make a submission

The CEC calls on all Australians who support the Glass-Steagall separation of deposits from financial gambling to do two things:

  1. Make a submission to the Treasury. The government is seeking public submissions on its draft crisis management bill by 8 September. Write an email to the Treasury, which can be as short or as long as you like, to make the essential point:

    Instead of legislating powers to manage the inevitable banking crisis, the government should immediately enact a Glass-Steagall separation to avert it.

    To make a submission, email to: crisismanagement@treasury.gov.au

    (Click here for instructions on how to mail a physical submission)

  2. Take a copy of the CEC’s “Proposal for a Glass-Steagall separation of Australia’s banks” to your federal MP and Senators. This is a formal proposal to Parliament, intended to explain the Glass-Steagall solution in a way that MPs can understand. They will be expected to vote on this crisis management bill, so it is imperative that they examine the far better Glass-Steagall alternative before they do.

    The CEC has a campaign to get the Proposal to every MP and Senator before Parliament next sits in September. It doesn’t matter how many times they get a copy—the more the better—so if you haven’t yet ordered an electronic copy or hard copy to pass on to your MP, do it today. (Either email a PDF copy with a short message, mail a hard copy, or take a hard copy in to the MP’s office.)

(Please email the CEC to let us know when you have sent your submission to the Treasury and/or delivered the Proposal to your MP.)

Click here to order one or more printed copies of “Proposal for a Glass-Steagall separation of Australia’s banking system” to take to your local MP or Senators.

Click here for a PDF copy of “Proposal for a Glass-Steagall separation of Australia’s banking system”, which you can download and email to your MP as an attachment.

Click here to join the CEC as a member.

Click here to refer others to receive regular email updates from the Citizens Electoral Council of Australia.

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All electoral content is authorised by National Secretary, Craig Isherwood, 595 Sydney Rd, Coburg VIC 3058.