Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Today Labor has three bills ready to implement recommendations of the banking royal commission. When will the Prime Minister stop running a part-time parliament and schedule extra sitting days so Labor's bills can become law before the next election? Why is the Prime Minister putting the banks ahead of the people, just like he did when he voted against the banking royal commission 26 times?

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'll ask the Treasurer to add further to this answer. What the government is not going to do is engage in reckless legislation. We will engage in responding to all 76 of the recommendations of the royal commission, and we're going to do it in a measured way, consulting to ensure there are no unintended consequences, because our government doesn't engage in reckless legislation. Our government doesn't do that.

What the Leader of the Labor Party did in this place last week was engage in reckless legislation to undermine Australia's border protection regime, and we're already seeing the unintended consequences. It's the Leader of the Labor Party who knows how to rush to failure when it comes to bringing legislation into this place. He didn't think about it when it was voted on in the Senate; he didn't think about it here. He demonstrated his weakness, and the leader of Labor Party cannot be trusted with Australia's future.

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

This is what a response to the royal commission looks like—not a doorstop with a couple of suggestions.

Ms O'Neil interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Hotham.

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

The member for McMahon and the Leader of the Opposition, knowing that there were 76 recommendations, held a doorstop and announced part responses to how many? Five—a mere six per cent. And the member for Hotham proudly went out on ABC Radio and said that the Labor Party would provide a comprehensive response within a week.

Ms O'Neil interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Hotham.

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

It's now two weeks later, and we have yet to see a response.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Treasurer will pause. The member for Hotham is now warned. I just wanted the Treasurer to pause because she was interjecting so loudly, I wasn't confident she'd heard me already call her to order on two or three occasions. The Treasurer has the call.

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

Out of the 76 recommendations, 40 of those will require legislation. As the Leader of the Opposition knows, there's consultation papers, there's drafting instructions and there's the exposure draft of the legislation, and then it needs to be introduced. And none other than the Law Council of Australia said that we must take the time to get this right.

The Labor Party have taken two weeks to get it wrong. They've taken two weeks to get it wrong. In the meantime, we've passed legislation through the Senate implementing two of the Hayne recommendations around trustees in super and around inducing employers in super. We're also working with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority to ensure an expansion of their remit, and today I met with their CEO. The Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources is working on a national debt mediation scheme that will help rural communities. The Minister for Families and Social Services is working on a review of financial counselling. We have announced that Graeme Samuel will chair an APRA capability review. We're getting on with it where the Labor Party are missing in action.