Category: Australian News

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BANKING ROYAL COMMISSION FINAL REPORT

The final report of the Banking Royal Commission uncovers unconscionable, corrupt and potentially criminal behaviour in the banking and financial services sector.
This is a dark day for Australian banking, and a terrible indictment on the greed in the industry.
We pay tribute to the victims of banking misconduct, the whistleblowers and the advocates for making this day happen.
We acknowledge it has been a long journey for individuals, families, small businesses and farmers.
The Royal Commission would not have happened without you. We will have a better, stronger and fairer banking system for all Australians because of you.
The final report is a comprehensive blueprint to clean up the industry, restore Australians’ trust in their banks, and put the interests of consumers first.
The Royal Commission’s report shows that on too many occasions, the pursuit of profit was put ahead of people, ethics and the law.
Scott Morrison and the Liberals should be condemned for voting against the Banking Royal Commission 26 times.
Mr Morrison called the Royal Commission “regrettable”, a “populist whinge”, delayed action for more than 600 days, and wants to give the big banks a $17 billion handout.
The Liberals have shown they cannot be trusted to clean up the banks. They are too out of touch and only stand up for the top end of town.
Unlike the Government, the Opposition accepts in-principle all of the recommendations in the report.
We will now give full and proper consideration to all the findings and recommendations through our usual processes.
On our initial reading of the Government’s response, we are concerned that on too many issues, the Government does not accept the Royal Commission’s recommendation, does not propose adequate action, or delays action.
There are several recommendations that require legislation to improve our banking system and ensure Australians aren’t ripped off, but Scott Morrison’s part-time parliament makes it very difficult to take immediate action to clean up the banks.
The Liberals tried to stop this Royal Commission from happening. They cannot be allowed to go soft on the banks, or go slow on implementing the reforms.
As Commissioner Hayne says in his final report: The financial services industry is too important to the economy of the nation to allow what has happened in the past to continue or to happen again. 
As well as giving in-principle support to the recommendations of the Royal Commission, a Shorten Labor Government will:

  • Crack down on corporate crime by increasing jail terms and financial penalties;
  • Protect and reward whistleblowers through a Whistleblower Protection Authority and a Whistleblower Rewards Scheme; and
  • Fund a dedicated special prosecutor to bring corporate criminals to justice.

Labor offers its sincere thanks to Commissioner Hayne and his dedicated team for their extraordinary efforts over the last 12 months.

LABOR WILL INVEST $4.45 MILLION FOR VIETNAMESE CULTURAL CENTRE AND MUSEUM

A Shorten Labor Government will invest $4.45 million to support the construction of the first Vietnamese Cultural Centre and Museum in Australia.
Australia is home to nearly 300,000 Vietnamese who all have a unique story and the Museum will become home for the Vietnamese community to collect, preserve and exhibit their culture, history and identity as a reminder and example of Australia’s successful multicultural society.
The Museum been a long term goal for the Victorian chapter of the Vietnamese Community in Australia and will contain interactive exhibits to share stories that will provide a unique insight into the ongoing journey of the Vietnamese community in Australia.
These are stories of sacrifice to give their children a better shot at life, long hours and hard work to grow small businesses and educate the next generation of doctors, lawyers, teachers and leaders.
In 2025 Australia will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the settlement of Vietnamese refugees in Australia and we are fortunate so many chose our nation to make a new home and life and it’s impossible to imagine Australia today without the contribution of the Vietnamese community.
The Centre will be located in Footscray and will serve to represent a city that has been the bedrock of the Australians of Vietnamese background since settlement.
This announcement matches the contribution of the Dan Andrews Labor Government and builds on contributions and support from local community members, the City of Maribyrnong to help make the Museum a reality by the 50th anniversary.

LABOR WILL PROTECT AND REWARD BANKING WHISTLEBLOWERS

A Shorten Labor Government will protect and reward the brave Australians who blow the whistle on crime and corruption, including in the banking and financial sector.
If elected, Labor will:

  • Set up a Whistleblower Rewards Scheme;
  • Establish a Whistleblower Protection Authority;
  • Overhaul our whistleblowing laws with a single Whistleblowing Act; and
  • Fund a special prosecutor to bring corporate criminals to justice.

The Banking Royal Commission has highlighted appalling and even criminal misconduct in the banking sector. It was only possible because brave whistleblowers and bank victims came forward – and Labor listened.
The Liberals did everything they could to protect the banks from the Royal Commission and keep this misconduct hidden. Scott Morrison voted 26 times against the Banking Royal Commission, and he wants to give the banks a massive tax handout.
Right now, blowing the whistle on crime and misconduct is incredibly difficult, with whistleblowers often facing reprisals, and some are never able to work again. For many Australians who see wrongdoing and want it to stop, blowing the whistle isn’t worth the risk.
This shouldn’t be the case, and Labor doesn’t want to see good people punished for doing the right thing.
Labor will establish a Whistleblower Rewards Scheme to make it easier for good people to come forward and report instances of crime and misconduct.
The scheme will allow whistleblowers to receive a percentage of the penalties arising out of wrongdoing that they reveal.
Once a crook is hit with a financial penalty as a result of whistleblowing, the Whistleblower Rewards Scheme will allow a proportion of the penalty to be given as a reward to the whistleblower. The relevant investigative or law enforcement agency will have discretion to determine the level of the reward within a legislated range.
The Whistleblower Rewards Scheme would be funded by the penalties collected by the Government.
Labor will also strengthen protections for whistleblowers through the establishment of a Whistleblower Protection Authority – a one-stop-shop to support and protect whistleblowers.
The Authority will have dedicated staff to advise whistleblowers on their rights, assist them through the disclosure process and help them access compensation if they face reprisals.
Labor believes all whistleblowers should be treated the same – regardless of the type of workplace they’re in. But right now, our whistleblower laws are opaque and inconsistent.
A Shorten Labor Government will create a single Australian Whistleblowing Act, consolidating all mainstream whistleblowing legislation into one location so that whistleblowers can readily understand how they are protected.
This will be a major shakeup of Australia’s whistleblowing regime. We will undertake detailed design work to make sure the new laws, the proposed Rewards Scheme and the Whistleblower Protection Authority are powerful and effective.
Labor is committed to cracking down on misconduct and corruption in the banking and financial services sector.
These announcements build on our commitment for a Banking Royal Commission Implementation Taskforce, and to deliver an extra $25 million over the next two years for the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions to tackle corporate crime.
As part of this funding, Labor will appoint a special prosecutor to crack down on corporate criminals.
The choice is clear. While Labor fought for the Banking Royal Commission and will crack down on white collar crime, Scott Morrison and the Liberals voted 26 times against the Banking Royal Commission and want to give the banks a tax handout.
Labor will deliver a fair go for all Australians. Morrison and the Liberals are only for the top end of town.

SCOTT MORRISON: DON’T CUT PRESCHOOL

Around 350,000 four years olds across Australia have begun their first steps of early learning in the past week, as they begin kindergarten or preschool.
This is an exciting time for families and their children in 2019.
However, under the Liberals this may be the very last year that 4 year old kids will get the opportunity to access preschool or kindy because Scott Morrison is refusing to fund the program beyond this year.
Scott Morrison has failed to extend preschool funding for four year olds beyond this school year – after his child care changes cut early education from some of Australia’s most vulnerable children.
Our children, parents and providers all rely on this critical funding, and if this cut goes ahead they will be unable to plan for the future, sign long term leases, lock in employment contracts or make budgets for 2020.
For those families with three years olds who are planning to send their children to kindy or preschool next year, under the Liberals they will lose more than $1,200 in funding per child.
Under the Liberals this could mean higher fees for families or lower quality pre-school for our children.
Not only is this funding uncertainty terrible for families, it is also terrible for providers and their staff, who have no guarantee that they will be able to survive after the end of the year.
NUMBER OF KIDS WHO MISS OUT UNDER THE LIBERALS’ CUTS:

  • More than 102,000 in New South Wales
  • More than 98,000 in Victoria
  • Nearly 70,000 in Queensland
  • More than 22,500 in South Australia
  • Nearly 37,300 in Western Australia
  • Nearly 7,300 in Tasmania
  • More than 3,850 in the Northern Territory
  • More than 7,000 in the ACT

Scott Morrison is leaving nearly 350,000 children without access to early education which shows just how out of touch the Liberals are.
In contrast, Labor’s National Preschool and Kindy Program will see the biggest ever in investment for children across Australia and deliver ongoing funding for four year olds and, for the first time, extend this to three year olds.
Labor will work in partnership with the states and territories to deliver this important reform, including in setting enrolment and attendance targets, particularly for Indigenous and vulnerable children.
The Liberals see education as a cost – that’s why they’ve cut $14 billion from public schools and left preschool funding in limbo. Labor sees it as an investment in our economic future.
Only Labor will give every child the early education opportunities they need for the best start in life.

LABOR SUPPORTING COMMUNITY RENEWABLES IN THE SOUTH COAST

People living on the Far South Coast of New South Wales will benefit from cleaner and cheaper renewable energy that will help cut the cost of power bills, with Labor’s plan to establish a Community Power Hub in the region.
This is the first location for a Community Power Hub as part of Labor’s $100 million Neighbourhood Renewables Program announced in November last year.
The program is aimed at helping renters and social housing residents benefit from cheaper and cleaner renewable energy, by supporting local community renewables projects such as solar gardens on rooftops, community wind farms, energy efficiency upgrades for social housing, and grants for community groups to pilot new projects.
Labor will work with local communities, local councils and renewable energy groups to determine the best location for the Hub, but the benefits of the Hub will be felt across the Far South Coast.
Australia is in an energy crisis under the Liberals. Electricity prices have increased by nearly 19 per cent over the past three years – three times faster than wages growth.
The Liberals haven’t been able to agree on a policy amongst themselves, and aren’t up to leading the country in the right direction.
Australians love renewable energy because they know it saves them money and it’s good for the environment. Household solar installation has sky-rocketed from 7,000 homes in 2007 to around 2 million homes today.
Labor wants to make sure that Australia embraces this future, and maximise the jobs, industry and environmental benefits of renewable energy – and most importantly Labor wants to make sure all Australians can share in these benefits, regardless of where you live.
That’s why the Far South Coast Community Power Hub is so important. It will support the development, coordination and financing of local projects to increase the uptake of renewables, including through solar pv and batteries.
The Tathra community is already ahead of the game when it comes to renewable energy. It was the birthplace of the Clean Energy for Eternity group which has focussed on encouraging individuals to invest in renewable energy sources and engaged in fundraising activities to put solar panels on community infrastructure.
Along with other community groups like Repower Shoalhaven, Southcoast Health and Sustainability Alliance, they just need a government in Canberra willing to back them in and support these impressive projects. The Hub will bring legal and technical expertise to the passion of community ideas.
The local renewables hub will be good for local households, good for the local economy and good for the environment.
Only Labor will deliver cheaper power bills, more renewables and more jobs for Australians.
The communities of the Far South Coast region can rest assured Labor will support their desire for community based clean energy with the Far South Coast Community Power Hub.

Speirs aimed at wrong target

The South Australian Liberal Government needs to stop fighting the SA Royal Commissioner and start fighting for our water if they are serious about saving the Murray, the Greens say.
“South Australian Environment and Water Minister David Speirs is in denial about the delivery of the 450GL of water promised to South Australia. The Royal Commissioner has confirmed we won’t see a drop of that water,” Greens environment and water spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.
“Arguing with the findings of the South Australian Royal Commission is not a good look for this rookie Minister who was sold a pup by the upstream states last year. He should be fighting for the water to be delivered, not lashing out at the Royal Commissioner.
“It’s clear the SA Liberal Government have no plan to secure the water South Australia is owed and the Murray needs. The Minister should get on the phone and demand that his Canberra Liberal National colleagues lift the ban on water buybacks and secure that water this year.
“Getting New South Wales and Victoria to the negotiating table was not a win when South Australia’s Minister was squibbed out of precisely what he was supposed to be fighting for. The delivery of the 450GL of water is contingent on conditions designed to be impossible to meet.
“If Minister Speirs wants to do the right thing by South Australia and the Murray, it’s time to take the blinders off and start standing up to the upstream states that are against any water coming over the border.”

22 million reasons for ALP to back militant unions

Figures released today have revealed 22 million reasons why Bill Shorten continues to bend over backwards for his militant union masters.
The Australian Electoral Commission today revealed that unions donated more than $7.9 million to the Labor Party in 2017-18. In addition, they spent more than $14 million on their own campaigns in support of the Labor Party.
These figures include almost $1 million in donations to Labor from the militant CFMMEU, which currently has 78 representatives before the courts and has been fined over $16.5 million in recent years for law breaking.
“We now know why Bill Shorten continues to stand by the militant CFMMEU despite their appalling and ever-growing rap sheet of lawlessness,” Minister O’Dwyer said.
“But it’s not just the militant CFMMEU Bill Shorten and Labor continue to back. While the CFMMEU will get to axe the construction cop, the MUA will get to design their own shipping laws, and the TWU will get the return of the independent trucker destroying RSRT.”
“If you’re a militant union with cash to burn, Bill’s policy shop is open for business.”
“Bill Shorten should take a leaf out of Bob Hawke’s book, grow a backbone and stand up to militant unionists instead of making the law breakers the law makers.”
The figures released today come just a month after Bill Shorten and the Labor Party doubled-down on their support for their militant union bosses at the Labor Party National Conference, whe re they committed to:

  • Keep under wraps their secret deal with the unions to allow economy-hammering, job-risking
    industry-wide strike action, leaving workers and businesses in the dark.
  • Black ban certain lawyers and law firms that the lawbreaking CFMMEU don’t like.
  • Resurrect their disastrous, family business destroying trucker remuneration rules – only this time also extending the pain to gig economy workers.
  • Accelerate cuts to workers’ take-home pay and syphon off more of their hard-earned wages into superannuation funds, where retirement savings are drained by the rorts and rip-offs that Labor refuses to help address.
  • Examine proposals to artificially boost union membership and clout through preferential tax concessions and incentives.
  • Continue with their crazy policy to scrap the building and construction regulator, the ABCC.
  • Cost the economy $1.3 billion by giving their union mates paid holiday l eave entitlements that no other worker will get.

“Instead of helping hard-working Australians, it is clear Bill Shorten is focused on one thing and one thing only – helping his militant union bosses,” Minister O’Dwyer concluded.

Banking Royal Commission report a small step towards the reform we deserve

Today’s disappointing final report into the banking and financial services industry will slow, but not end decades of money grabbing and unethical conduct, the Australian Greens have said today.
“The enthusiasm from the Liberal and Labor parties to accept these recommendations tells you all you need to know. The financial services industry is one of the biggest donors to both old parties, and they will all be laughing all the way to the bank tonight,” Leader of the Australian Greens Senator Richard Di Natale said.
“Accepting all of these recommendations will go some way towards improving the system, but the system needs more than a tweak, it needs a complete shakeup.
“People have not only suffered from unethical conduct, they have been hurt as a result of limited competition and protected by a toothless watchdog. Under these recommendations people will continue to be locked into that rotten structure, and bankers will only be forced to rein in their profit forecasts.”
“This Royal Commission has shone a welcome ray of light on the practices of the banks, and there is undoubted political momentum for reform – but we cannot consider the job to be done,” Greens Banking spokesperson Peter Whish-Wilson said.
“The Greens would like to have seen more focus on structural reform, rather than just conduct reform. The Commission’s failure to resolve the issue of vertical and horizontal integration is a notable example of an inquiry that has been constrained.
“Sadly the Commissioner’s brief was limited from the outset, as was his time to consider detailed policy issues.
“The historical significance of today’s report depends on what unfolds from here. Will long suffering victims of financial misconduct now be appropriately compensated? Will the regulators take up Justice Haynes challenge and pursue criminal charges against the banks?
“The Greens will be watching closely and won’t be taking a backward step in holding the next government to account, and leading on the push for reform and policies that transform our economy”.
The Greens welcome the thrust of the recommendations, and are particularly pleased to see some of the Greens’ recommendations adopted, including:

  • Ending bank commissions for mortgage brokers
  • Ending grandfathered commissions that involve conflicted remuneration
  • Expanding the scope of the executive accountability regime to all APRA regulated institutions
  • Establishing a ‘regulator’s regulator’ to ensure they are doing their job properly
  • Establishing a last resort compensation scheme

However, the Greens proposal to fix Australia’s banking sector would:

  • Establish a people’s bank that offers basic products at a competitive rate, putting people before profit
  • Break up the banks, by separating retail banking, investment banking and wealth management arms
  • Cap the obscene pay packages that banking executives receive
  • Replace a weak and compromised ASIC with the ACCC to fight for the rights of banking customers

Asylum seeker children off Nauru

Every asylum seeker child has now been removed from Nauru or has had their claim processed and has a clear path off the island.
Our strong border protection policies mean we’ve been able to stop the boats and work through the backlog of cases Labor created when 50,000 people arrived on 800 boats on their watch.
There were 109 asylum seeker children on Nauru at the end of August 2018 at the time we took on our respective roles as Prime Minister and Minister for Immigration.
Since then, and as was made clear at the time, we have been working quietly and methodically through this process without compromising the integrity of Operation Sovereign Borders. There are now only four asylum seeker children on Nauru and they have all been approved for departure to the United States of America with their families.
We have got all the children Labor put in detention centres out, and we have shut down all the detention centres Labor opened, including on Christmas Island.
Australia has one of the most generous humanitarian immigration programs in the world, but we can only do it by maintaining strong borders and insisting people come the right way.
We have secured our borders, we stopped the boats and the tragic drownings at sea. And we have been supporting children compassionately without putting our strong border security at risk.
We have got the balance right.
You don’t get all children off Nauru by putting more on. That is why we must maintain the integrity of Operation Sovereign Borders. Labor’s policies will unravel the strong border protection framework we have put in place.
Labor’s laws currently before the Parliament would end offshore processing as we know it, tearing apart our strong border policies. This would only see the horror start all over again.
On our watch we will never let Australia get back into the mess Labor left us when they locked up nearly 8,000 children in detention.

Senate inquiry into the APVMA marred by donations from vested interests to Labor and Liberal parties, say Greens

The report of the Senate inquiry into the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) has been marred by the revelations that vested interests including RoundUp patent holder Bayer and industry body CropLife have collectively donated $139,000 to the Labor, Liberal and National parties in the 2017-18 financial year, say the Australian Greens.
“Exactly a year ago Bayer made a $22,000 donation to the Labor party and today, the Labor-controlled committee for the APVMA inquiry report states they have confidence in the APVMA’s review of glyphosate,” said Senator Janet Rice, Australian Greens agriculture spokesperson.
“The report calls the APVMA’s review of glyphosate ‘robust’, even though the agency decided not to conduct a formal reconsideration of the chemical despite the APVMA’s CEO agreeing that glyphosate is a probable carcinogen.”
“The ad-hoc nature of our current regime for chemical review, as demonstrated by the approach of the APVMA to community concerns about glyphosate, is clearly not up to the task of keeping our community and environment safe.”
“It’s also clear from the donations data released today that the independence of this Senate inquiry and indeed the APVMA is under a cloud.”
“We need donations reform right now, to ensure that big business can’t continue to shape outcomes at the expense of the best interests of the Australian people.”
“The Greens are calling on the Coalition government to immediately order an independent, transparent and science-based inquiry into glyphosate to give Australians certainty about its safety, and call on Bayer to release all internal science. We are also calling on the government to immediately introduce legislation to reinstate the APVMA re-approvaland re-registration scheme that was repealed in 2014.”
In the 2017-18 financial year, Bayer donated $40,600 to Labor and $42,540 to the Coalition, with CropLife donating $34,271 to Labor and $22,300 to the Coalition. Information can be found here.
The committee’s final report, including the Greens dissenting report, can be found here.