TURNBULL AND MORRISONS GREATEST HITS ON ROYAL COMMISSION
Today Malcolm Turnbull said it was regrettable that there needed to be a Royal Commission into the banking sector.
Hes also had some other interesting things to say about a Royal Commission in the 601 days since Labor called for one.
Malcolm Turnbull has said there will be no Royal Commission:
KARL STEFANOVIC: Firstly I'm a little bit confused this morning, if you don't mind me saying, are we having a banking Royal Commission or not?
PRIME MINISTER: No, we're not having a banking Royal Commission. Look, we've obviously looked at the banking sector and we can see that the mistakes that have been made, the bad practices that have occurred, the mistreatment of customers. What we are doing is taking action right now. We are establishing a one-stop shop so people can get their complaints resolved. Greater regulation, greater accountability. We are getting on with the job right now. People want action now.
Today Show 22 November 2017
Footage; https://www.dropbox.com/s/d3blvhuw2qrsq2y/One%20Today%20Show-20171122.mp4?dl=0
KARL STEFANOVIC: But let's make it simple, just to write that one off. While you are PM, under your watch, there will be no banking Royal Commission?
PRIME MINISTER: Karl, there is not going to be a banking Royal Commission and look, can I just say Karl, the reason for that is that banking Royal Commission is a long inquiry, it's very expensive. But it doesn't do anything other than write a report. What governments have to do is take action.
Today Show 22 November 2017
Footage; https://www.dropbox.com/s/f1ft1w9v0fbs4ot/Two%20Today%20Show-20171122.mp4?dl=0
JOURNALIST: But Prime Minister, it sounds like you are actually considering that as a possibility. Can you categorically rule out that you would, as a government commission a royal commission into the banks? Can you categorically rule that out?
PRIME MINISTER: We have made it clear that we are not going to establish a royal commission and the reason for that is simply because we want to get on with the job now. Let me tell you, if we had set up a royal commission into banks two years ago, none of the reforms that we have undertaken would have been able to be achieved. You know why? Because people would have said: "Oh, don't do that. Wait for the royal commissions report. Wait for the report. Wait for the report. Wait for the report." So that is the issue. It is the difference between getting on with the job, taking action now and delivering results now. Youve seen the big reforms we have taken. That is what Australians expect governments to do, is deliver on those reforms
Press Conference 28 November 2017
Footage; https://www.dropbox.com/s/5r8kir0jrfa1ojo/ABC%20News%2024%2010am%20News-20171128.mp4?dl=0
DAVID KOCH: Just yes or no.
PRIME MINISTER: I am not going to go in to what Cabinet discusses. I can tell you that we as a Government, we have decided not to have a royal commission. We made the decision along time ago, not because we don't believe there is nothing going on in terms of problems with the banks, its because we want to take action right now and we are. We are taking action right now to ensure that people get their complaints resolved, they get more accountability, weve got tough cops on the beat. Were dealing with issues with banks right now, greater accountability as you know.
DAVID KOCH: So no royal commission, no matter when? No royal commission on the cards?
PRIME MINISTER: A royal commission would simply be an inquiry. Take a long time, cost a lot of money and make some recommendations which would no doubt be to do precisely what were already doing.
Sunrise 22 November 2017
Footage; https://www.dropbox.com/s/amkjljovqitgpj8/Sunrise-20171122.mp4?dl=0
Malcolm Turnbull also said a Royal Commission is a waste of money:
TURNBULL: Well, it does not work for him politically, and that is why he wants to have a royal commission. Let me say to you, Mr Speaker: if the Leader of the Opposition were to have his way, not one person who has been given poor advice would be compensated.
The only beneficiaries of years and years of a royal commission into wickedness in the financial services sectorno terms of referencewould be the legal profession.
QT 18 April 2016
TURNBULL: Honourable senators opposite should not insult the intelligence of the Australian people. A royal commission is an inquiry. The only thing a royal commission can do is ask questionssubpoena documents, examine witnesses and write a report. That is all it can do. It cannot compensate anyone. I was about to say it cannot write a cheque.
The only cheques that are written in respect of royal commissions are to the lawyers, and they do very well out of it. A royal commission is designed to inquire into something that has gone wrong, and of course there are plenty of opportunities where that can be done.
QT 18 April 2016
TURNBULL: What does a royal commission do to help them? Years and years, hundreds of millions of dollars in legal expenses, and at the end of that is written a reportnot one dollar of compensation, not one measure of redress. The honourable member's call for a royal commission into the banks is nothing more than a political exercise which will do nothing to resolve the needs, the concerns, of people who have been treated unfairly.
QT 19 April 2016
TURNBULL: Does the honourable member really imagine that a royal commission is something the banks would be afeared of? Does she really imagine that the banks, with all of their resources, with all of their lawyers, will not be equal to a royal commission? Does she really imagine that Michelle, from Newcastle, and Dwayne and Jenny will be able to afford the legal representation to defend themselves, to make their claims in a royal commission? A royal commission will be a forum for the legal profession. It will go on for years, it will cost hundreds of millions of dollars and it will not tell us anything new.
QT 1 September 2016
TURNBULL: The banks are shaking in their shoes at the prospect of Bill Shorten and his royal commission.
They are shaking with fear but not shaking as much as the legal profession are in anticipation at the hundreds of millions of dollars in fees. The member for Isaacs and his colleagues will be delighted. The reality is this: we are dealing with the issue of bank misconduct. We are not having a royal commission. We are taking action.
The honourable member opposite knows that he has been left behind on this issue of banking accountability. He has no policies and no solutions. He has a call for a royal commission, which will enrich the legal profession, cost hundreds of millions of dollars, take many years and end up, no doubt, recommending the types of measures that are already in this year's budget.
The difference is this: we are getting on with the job. We are governing. We are delivering. We are protecting consumers. We are protecting small businesses. We are holding banking executives to account, and we are doing it right now.
The only protection racket that is being run at the moment is by the Leader of the Opposition and by the banks and the legal profession who want to obfuscate and delay.
QT 22 May 2017
Malcolm Turnbull said a Royal Commission is a waste of time:
TURNBULL: I mean a royal commission into the banks! What is a royal commission into the banks going to tell us that we do not know? What recommendations is it going to make that we have not implemented? We know what is wrong with banks.
Can I tell the honourable memberI will let him in on a little secret: the banks are not scared of a royal commission, sunshine. They have got plenty of lawyers and big law firms.
QT 10 May 2017
TURNBULL: But I have to say to the honourable member that I imagine what her constituent seeks is compensation or recompense, that she seeks justice and some form of compensation for the losses she incurred. Is the best that the Labor Party can do is offer her a royal commission? What is that going to do? Will that pay her back? No. She will get nothing.
The Labor Party has embarked on a populous campaign that does nothing to support the honourable member's constituent. As she got to the end of that question I wonder whether it did not occur to her that the royal commission will be of no assistance to her constituent. It will not repay her at all.
I do not know what measures she has sought to undertake, but the one place she will achieve no compensation at all is in a royal commission. The only beneficiaries from a royal commission would be, frankly, the legal profession.
A royal commission can do nothing there. It cannot change a law, it cannot change a regulation, and more importantlymost importantly the compassion you seek to offer to your constituent cannot be fulfilled by a royal commission, and you know that, and I suspect she does too.
QT 1 September 2016
TURNBULL: What it is is a slogan. He has a slogan. He wants a royal commission. That is what he wants: he wants a royal commission, and he has nothing of substancenot an idea.
QT 3 August 2016
Not to be outdone, Treasurer Slomo has also been critical.
Slomo has called it a political exercise:
MORRISON: What a Royal Commission does is pump Bill Shortens tyres up but doesnt give anybody anything if at all for years. So, that is a political exercise for a political hack.
Sky News 14 February 2017
A Royal Commission is cynical exploitation:
MORRISON: I would describe as a cynical exploitation of peoples genuine concerns and the politicisation of their pain by Bill Shorten.
ABC 7.30 20 April 2016
A Royal Commission only helps Bill Shorten/its crass populism -
MORRISON: But, as an election comes, they propose a royal commission which is designed to help only one personthe Leader of the Opposition. It is not intended to support bank consumers and customers; it is just intended to bolster and prop up the stocks of a Leader of the Opposition who is focused on one Australianhimself.
QT 18 April 2016
MORRISON: By contrast, rather than offer Dwayne and Jenny the crass populist approach of the Leader of the Oppositionwho has only had one interest in this issue since he started, and that is to pursue his own political gain and not to pursue the genuine interests of Dwayne and Jenny or any of the others who have had serious caseswe have the great work of the parliamentary joint committee and members on this side of the House in pursuing cases.
QT 1 September 2016
MORRISON: I note what the former governor of the Reserve Bank and former Treasury secretary Bernie Fraser said. He said, 'I think there are real problems, but I wouldn't myself be rushing into a royal commission at this stage, mainly because I think the basic problems are pretty clear, but more importantly, because it would take so long for a royal commission to get the point of recommending.' What they have is hot air.
QT 19 April 2016
MORRISON: So why is it that, instead of taking the wise advice of the member for Lilley, the Leader of the Opposition is proposing a royal commission whose terms of reference is a blank sheet of paper. There are no terms of reference. There is nothing more than crass populism seeking to undermine confidence in the banking and financial system, which is key to jobs and growth in this country.
QT 18 April 2016
