Andrew Wilkie (Denison, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Speaker. Returning to the issue of process and when we might see the Selection Committee direct that the second reading be continued, I would hope that the Selection Committee is very mindful in its deliberations of the fact that a mirror image of this bill was moved by me five years ago, in 2012, and it received no support from the then Labor government or the then Liberal-National coalition. So I would hope that the Selection Committee this time around would understand that the situation is even more dire, that there is even greater concern in the community about the behaviour of the banks and that there is an urgent need for the issue of the banks' conduct to be dealt with.

Turning again to the issue of process, we talk about a lot of things in this place. The Selection Committee makes a lot of decisions about what will be dealt with in this place, but I would encourage the Selection Committee to be mindful that there is nothing, or very little, more important for us to consider at the moment than the widespread angst in the community about the conduct of the banking sector—and in particular the big four banks—and the need for there to be a mandatory legislated code of conduct that is overseen by the government and the minister—

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