Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I am trying to help. It was your now cabinet colleague Premier Bob Carr and it was the Premier of Victoria at that time, Steve Bracks, who were most willing to workcooperatively with John Howard and me regarding the referral of power. The most difficult person was the Liberal Attorney-General from Western Australia, Peter Foss, who I saw on the ABC last night. I have no fond memories of his attempt to reinstitute a national companies and securities commission with a head office in Perth in order to avoid having a single Corporations Law regime. However, great things come out of Perth to this place, and Senator Mathias Cormann and his staff are classic examples of that, because they have been able to negotiate through the intransigence of the government to get a great outcome for consumers.

With the amendments that are being proposed, the coalition will not oppose the bill. The bill also introduces statutory protections and the provision of reverse mortgages, including a statutory protection against negative equity, and more detailed and prescriptive disclosure requirements. Those measures were in the original bill. They are not opposed by the coalition and are supported by industry.

Given that we have the Leader of the Government in the House, I want to illustrate to the Leader of the Government in the House how this is a great example of the coalition working to improve poor legislation put up by the government. It is particularly pleasing that when the government, from time to time—under well-informed and astute ministers that occasionally have a brief moment of clarity, like the Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation in this instance—do listen to the coalition they get it right. The minister should take this message to his colleagues. He should turn to his colleague on his right, the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, and say, 'You should work with the coalition in relation to the boats. You should listen to them. And, when the coalition moves amendments, be wise and accept them.' And he should turn to the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport behind him and point out to the minister that, when the coalition offers well-informed, well-researched and well-consulted amendments to bills, the government should accept them, because we seek to improve the legislation. Here is a classic example where the government comes in, with poor legislation that represents the incompetence of the government in relation to policy, then the coalition works within a framework to improve the legislation and you get a great outcome—and there are no divisions. So we come together when the government listens to the coalition, because there is a wealth of knowledge on this side of the House and there is an ability to improve legislation for the betterment of all the Australian people.

See this speech in context