AUSTRALIAN CONSUMERS DESERVE BETTER

Today’s announcement regarding ASIC funding is furious backpedalling from a Government which has spent years running a protection racket for the big banks.  The Liberals tried to dismantle the Future of Financial Advice Reforms and protections for consumers.  Malcolm Turnbull and the Liberals spent 600 days running a protection racket for the banks against a Royal Commission, with Treasurer Scott Morrison describing Labor’s call for the inquiry as a “populist whinge”.  Only a few months ago, Malcolm Turnbull cut ASIC’s funding and its staff numbers in the 2018 Budget. The Liberals cut funding by $120 million from ASIC in the disastrous 2014 Budget.  Now, Malcolm Turnbull and the Liberals are fighting to give the big banks a $17 billion tax handout.  Labor of course welcomes today’s announcement of additional funding for ASIC, and we hope that it improves ASIC’s enforcement capabilities.  For years, Kelly O’Dwyer has been claiming that the Government has provided ASIC with the resources and powers they need to be “tough cops on the beat”. But the horror stories flowing out of the Banking Royal Commission show a very different story. For many Australians who have been ripped off and had their lives destroyed by the big banks, today’s announcement is too little, too late.  Today’s announcement does nothing to distract from the fact that Turnbull and his Liberals are, and will always be, on the side of the big banks.  Labor will continue to stand up for customers and small businesses. We will remain steadfastly committed to cracking down on misconduct in the financial services sector.