Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Why won't the Prime Minister say sorry to the victims of the banks for voting 26 times against the banking royal commission?

Josh Frydenberg (Kooyong, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's the Labor Party that needs to say sorry to the victims of Opes Prime, it's the Labor Party that needs to say sorry to the victims of Storm Financial, it's the Labor Party that needs to say sorry to the victims of Trio Capital, because the Leader of the Opposition was proudly saying, when he was the financial services minister, 'We have the best regulators and the best banks in the world,' and he did not call a royal commission when they were in office for six years. I want to show the Labor Party what a response to the royal commission looks like. That's what it looks like—it's got a heading, it's got a title, it's got 40 pages, it's got 76 responses to 76 recommendations.

The Labor Party have had nine days to respond to the royal commission, and what have we seen? We've only seen stunts. We want to know what more the Labor Party can give than just their agreement in principle. We looked up the dictionary definition of 'in principle'. It's a general idea, although the details are not yet established. What is the Labor Party going to do? What is the Labor Party saying to the 17,000 mortgage brokers? Are they going to say to the 17,000 mortgage brokers, small businesses, that they ignored the advice of the Productivity Commission? Are they going to say to the 17,000 mortgage brokers, employing 26,000 people, that they don't care about competition? Are they going to say to the 17,000 mortgage brokers that they want to give a big free kick to the big banks? Are they going to give the big banks a $2.6 billion free kick as a result of their response to the royal commission? What about once-only default when it comes to super? Where is Labor's position? They're turning; they're wriggling. We're going to see some weasel words, but where is Labor's position?

The member for McMahon has had over a week. He was demanding we respond, demanding we release it, so he could rush out his response, but it's nowhere to be seen. The member for McMahon and the member for Hotham have gone missing. They're running around the gallery whispering sweet nothings in the ears of the journalists, saying the response will come. It's in-principle support. I'll tell you what the 17,000 mortgage brokers, the small businesses across all your electorates, want to know: what are you going to do for their future, or are you going to end their businesses in your response to the royal commission, whenever we get it?