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
The political opposition to Glass-Steagall in Australia is wavering. The Senate yesterday voted on a Notice of Motion by Senator Pauline Hanson calling for the separation of Australia’s banks. Although the government and ALP joined forces to vote down the motion—as they regularly did before 2016 to block a banking royal commission, to their embarrassment now—cracks are appearing in their opposition. And significantly, a member of the government, National Party Senator Barry O’Sullivan, crossed the floor to vote with One Nation, the Greens, Centre Alliance, Katter’s Australian Party and Independent Senator Tim Storer for banking separation. (Independent senators Derryn Hinch and David Leyonhjelm voted with the government and Labor.)
Senator Hanson’s Notice of Motion stated:
That the Senate:
Despite the motion being voted down, the government is now wavering in its opposition to banking separation. For a number of years, government MPs have sent form letters to concerned constituents, stating that the “Government has no intention of legislating to structurally separate retail and commercial banking from investment banking in Australia … it is not considered necessary in Australia at this time”.
In response to this notice of motion, however, instead of expressing flat-out opposition, government Senator Anne Ruston said the government is awaiting the outcome of the royal commission:
“The government opposes this motion. In order to have a stronger economy, it is integral to have a financial system that is efficient, stable and trustworthy. The government will await the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry.” (Emphasis added.)
In other words, the government has now moved to Labor’s position, which has long said it will wait for the recommendations of the royal commission, as ALP Senator Anthony Chisholm reiterated:
“Labor fought for a royal commission. Labor has called for the royal commission to hear from more victims. Labor is doing everything it can to hear from those through roundtables around the country. But we can’t rush into significant reforms like those proposed in this motion before the royal commission has delivered its final report. Labor will look with interest in the final report in February 2019 for recommendations to address the shocking findings outlined in the interim report.”
Greens leader Senator Richard Di Natale expressed strong support for the motion:
“The Greens support breaking up the banks because we recognise there is a fundamental conflict of interest at the heart of the banking sector. We’ve been leading reform in this space. We led the campaign for a royal commission, and we’re now leading the campaign to reform the banks. We said it was important to do that back in 2017. Since then, the Productivity Commission has said it too, ASIC has said it too and the royal commission is clearly saying it as well. ASIC says financial advisers to big banks recommend their own products instead of what’s best for consumers 75 per cent of the time. If that’s not a conflict of interest, I don’t know what it is.”
This episode in the Senate demonstrates the progress that has been made in the fight for Glass-Steagall in Australia. Until 2016 Labor was flatly opposed to banking separation, as was the government until this week; now both major parties know they can’t flatly oppose the policy, and are awaiting the outcome of the royal commission. Moreover, government members are now taking a stand in public support of the policy.
This is a fight we can win—don’t let up!
What you can do
Right now, the most important thing you can do is make a submission to the banking royal commission by the deadline of 5:00 PM 26 October to:
* You have seven days to make a submission; click here for the online submission form: https://royalcommissioninterimreportwebform.lawinorder.com.au/#/