Slade Brockman (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Eight years ago, when I first came to this place, debanking was not an issue that was even on my radar. Since then, sadly, it has come to me more and more. The first instances involved areas of intensive agriculture, and then I had significant communication with elements of the live sheep trade. Even though it was still, and is still, a completely legal and legitimate industry, they were finding it difficult to secure short-term financial facilities.

In the last few days, I've had another case not involving agriculture brought to me. I have two recent examples involving a Big Four bank. In both cases, the investors involved were wholesale investors who were recognised under ASIC's definition as sophisticated and capable of making their own financial decisions. Together, these investors sought to place $1 million into a legitimate fund, a fund that complied with all Australian laws. Instead, the particular bank intervened, blocked the transaction, and the investment was never completed. The consequences of that kind of action are significant. Investors lose out on returns. The businesses involved suffer financial and reputational harm, and confidence in our banking system is undermined.

This was not about preventing any sort of fraud. Again, these were sophisticated investors, under ASIC's definition, using their own money to seek to invest in a particular product, blocked by the bank. This is not the kind of banking system Australia should have. It is an issue that this parliament needs to look into further.