Nola Marino (Forrest, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. I refer the Treasurer to recent cuts in official interest rates. Treasurer, a company in my electorate has a business overdraft facility with Westpac Bank. With the current cash rate at 3¼ per cent, why is this company still paying 10.1 per cent interest?

Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I do thank the member for her question. It is the case that, in terms of mortgage rates, there has been a very substantial pass-through by all of the major banks of the 400 basis points cut that has been delivered by the Reserve Bank in the last few months. It is also the case that, for some business borrowers, it has not flowed through at the same rate. I share the same concerns as the member for Forrest. It is the case that a lot of business loans are linked to market rates but some are not. So I would be very interested in seeing the details of this example which has been mentioned by the member for Forrest, and I will take it up with Westpac Bank.

I am very keen to see that credit in the Australian banking system flows to where it is needed. It is true to say that, as a consequence of the bank guarantee, and particularly the guarantee for term funding, Australian banks have been quite successful in raising their funding requirements both onshore and offshore in recent months. In fact, they have raised a record amount of money doing that. The government would certainly like to see credit flowing more strongly to some sections of business. It is the case that, at the aggregate level, credit flows do look strong but I, like the member for Forrest, do hear too many complaints from sections of small business where this is not the case. It may be a consequence of a number of factors. It could be a consequence of general economic conditions. It may be a consequence that some of the regional banks are not lending in areas where they previously lent. It is certainly the case that people who are trying to change their bank are experiencing difficulties in this environment. The government is talking to the banking sector about that, and I would be more than happy to look at this example and take it up with the bank.

I recently took up another example that had been raised with me, because I was concerned about what was going on, where there was a failure to get credit. The government is quite concerned about this. On that occasion, with that example, there was a successful outcome. Certainly, our response cannot always be on an individual basis. We are looking to a systematic solution that we can put in place to deal with these issues where people are unjustifiably being denied credit when they should get it. Of course, trying to establish that has some difficulties, but the government is serious about it, and I look forward to hearing the details from the member.