Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I am still in the government’s economic team; Senator Minchin is not. Senator Minchin has already distinguished himself by announcing that he intends to question me about Labor’s uncertain plans for a digital switch-off. I look forward to that, Senator Minchin, because we are not planning a digital switch-off. We might be going to turn the analogue system off, but not the digital system. So, I would stick to the economic game, Senator Minchin.

It is worth noting that Australia’s largest four banks are among only 12 of the world’s top 100 banks with AA credit rating or above. That is, there are 12 banks with AA credit rating or above and we have four of them in this country. It is also a fact that the exposure of our banks to subprime loans is significantly less than in the US. In Australia, subprime mortgages account for only one per cent of the mortgage market, compared with 15 per cent in the US. Our default rates are nowhere near theirs. (Time expired)