Nick McKim (Tasmania, Australian Greens) | Hansard source

I won't reprise my second reading contribution here today, which I'm sure is a relief to the entire chamber. But what I will say is that, on behalf of the Australian Greens, I express our significant disappointment in the fact that the government has not chosen to extend the ban on unfair trading practices to the financial services sector.

These have been long held and long expressed views from the ACCC, from ASIC and from peak consumer groups in the country, as well as from the Australian Greens. The government has given no adequate reason for failing to extend the ban on unfair trading practices to the financial services sector, particularly given the view of at least one ACCC commissioner that the harm from unfair trading practices in the financial services sector is likely to be greater than any other sector in the economy. It is time that the government divorced itself from the interests of the big banks and the other financial behemoths in this country that run so much of government policy, and it is time that the government extended the ban on unfair trading practices to the financial services sector.

I'll move my amendments in a moment. I want to quickly respond to Senator Scarr's response to my second reading speech yesterday. I say this to Senator Scarr: I acknowledge the matters that he spoke about in regard to the potential to extend the ban on unfair trading practices to the financial services sector, and I look forward to further engagement across this chamber with a view to ensuring that we protect consumers of financial services in Australia by extending the ban on unfair trading practices to the financial services sector. We'll give everyone a chance to ensure that that happens now. I doubt that it will, but we are going to keep going on this. We will not be silenced on this. We will keep fighting until consumers of financial services in Australia are protected in the same way that consumers of a range of other products and services will be protected under the provisions of this bill.

I seek leave to move Australian Greens amendments circulated in my name, amendments (1) and (2) on sheet 3841, together.

Leave granted.

I move those amendments:

(1) Schedule 1, item 7, page 5 (line 16), at the end of subsection 28B(6), add:

; (e) lead generation.

(2) Schedule 1, item 7, page 5 (before line 17), before subsection 28B(7), insert:

(6A) In this section:

lead generation includes the following:

(a) collecting the consumer's personal information for a sales purpose in an obscure, complex or misleading way;

(b) failing to clearly disclose to the consumer the primary purpose for collecting, using or sharing the consumer's personal information.