Sky News – AM Agenda
Kieran Gilbert and Senator Sarah Hanson-Young
8 November 2010
8:40am
E & OE
Subjects: Banks, Liberal Party, AUSMIN
KIERAN GILBERT:
Welcome back to AM Agenda. With me this morning is our panel of politicians – from the Sky News Centre is Liberal Senator Mitch Fifield, good morning Senator.
MITCH FIFIELD:
Good morning Kieran.
GILBERT:
And from Adelaide we’re joined by the Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young. Senator Hanson-Young, thank you for your time. I want to start with you as well. It looks like ASIC and the Government are going to be announcing details as to how they’re going to crack down on the banks and these exit fees. It looks like the Commonwealth Bank’s decision to almost double the Reserve Bank’s official increase in rates last week has really created some momentum here. And it looks like the other banks have been spooked as well. Is that your sense of what we’re seeing at the moment?
SARAH HANSON-YOUNG:
Well look if the reports in today’s paper are correct, that there are movements within three of the four major banks to start dropping exit fees and looking at how they can start treating their customers more fairly, then it’s a good thing, of course it is. And what it really does is gets behind the legislation that the Greens already have in the Parliament, it’s been in the Lower House, it’s going to, it’ll go to the Upper House. And it’s, this legislation is doing exactly what people are calling for banning exit fees on mortgages, ensuring that we have more fairness in the system, and that there’s some transparency in the way customers are being treated and the services that they get. One of the interesting things, I thought, over the last week’s antics with the banks, is that, after the Commonwealth Bank put up their interest rates, usually when you see those hikes go up, you see a rally on the share market. But we didn’t, we haven’t seen that with the Commonwealth Bank. So people, not just customers but also shareholders, are starting to think, ‘hang on a minute, this isn’t a very good look.’
GILBERT:
And Senator Fifield, it looks like, as Sarah mentioned there, that the banks, well the reports suggest today that the banks might pre-empt the Government’s move in terms of the exit fees and scrap them. This would cost the big banks about $280 million a year. It would be a good PR move though it would be a bit of a surprise to see the banks doing that, wouldn’t it?
FIFIELD:
Well Kieran, we’ve heard the Government talk about making it easier for customers to transfer from banks for years now. Chris Bowen, the former Financial Services Minister, used to talk about it a lot. He used to talk about the difficulty of exit fees. But the Government did absolutely nothing. The only reason that the banks now are themselves, from reports today, talking about voluntarily abolishing these exit fees is because Joe Hockey has put the focus on the banks. Because Joe Hockey has been talking about the need for more competition. Because Joe Hockey has been looking at things from the consumer’s perspective. Initially he was rubbished by the Government and by some commentators. But I can tell you that the banks would not be thinking about this option of abolishing the exit fees if it wasn’t for what Joe Hockey has done.
GILBERT:
Senator Fifield, though, he was rubbished by some in your own Party as well. So is it a bit of egg on the face of some of your Liberal colleagues?
FIFIELD:
Well I certainly wasn’t aware of any of that happening.
HANSON-YOUNG:
Rubbished for taking up Greens’ policy is what happened, wasn’t it Kieran?
GILBERT:
That does sound familiar…
FIFIELD:
Well good policy has a thousand fathers and mothers, I think. But Kieran, what we’ve seen since this Government has been in office is a Treasurer who doesn’t have the respect of the banks. Very shortly after this Government won in 2007, one of the banks put up interest rates apart from the decision of the Reserve Bank the first time that that had happened in living memory. And Wayne Swan’s response was very muted. And the banks thought, ‘look, we’ve got the measure of this guy, we can pretty much do what we want.’ And sadly, that’s what we’ve seen.
GILBERT:
Well let’s see what the Greens think. I mean, we’ve heard some noises that the Greens might back Joe Hockey’s private members bill to crack down on price-signalling. Senator Hanson-Young, you spoke about the Greens’ own legislative initiatives, but what about the Hockey Plan to crack down on price-signalling and empower the ACCC? Is your sense that the Greens will back this, importantly in the Lower House as well?
HANSON-YOUNG:
Look I think we really need to have some good constructive discussions between the Greens and the Opposition, and preferably the Government as well. I mean, it seems pretty clear that even when people who are meant to be making money out of the interest rates, the shareholders of the big banks, are saying ‘hang on a minute, this isn’t fair, we need to do something better to make sure people like us and make sure people use our services, and that we keep our customers happy,’ there is I think good movement here for some tri-partisan support or at least bi-partisan support between the Greens and the Opposition on getting these things that we’re all talking about, actually put into law. If we want to see better regulation in terms of price-signalling, let’s have a look at that legislation and see if we can get it through. If we really believe that exit fees shouldn’t be attached to mortgages, well let’s make that law as well. Let’s not just let it be at the good will of some banks who’ve found a conscience.
GILBERT:
What do you make of the argument, though, from the Government that the Greens and others should wait for the Swan response? The Treasurer says that he’s been working on this for months and months, and that they need to get it right to ensure there aren’t any adverse consequences of these reforms and other areas of the economy, because it’s not just the banks that will be affected by the changes.
HANSON-YOUNG:
Look, you know, I think those conversations are going to need to happen over the coming weeks. And Wayne Swan probably is working on these things. He’s probably, if he is, he’s probably a little annoyed that perhaps he didn’t move faster. The Greens have been talking about this issue for a long time. We went to the election with a very thorough policy on making banking fairer for consumers. It’s great to see the Opposition now talking about that as well. Rather than simply saying, ‘we’ll do it some time in the future,’ let’s actually look at some practical measures we can be taking now. And I think that’s what both the Greens and the Opposition are talking about.
GILBERT:
Let’s move on to a few other issues now. Senator Fifield, the Liberal Party’s outgoing Treasurer of the Party machine, Michael Yabsley, warns that it’s in danger of slipping into insolvency. This has got to be a concern, particularly when economic credibility is traditionally one of the Liberal Party’s strengths. If the Party itself slipped into insolvency, that would be a very, very bad look, and obviously there are concerns from Mr Yabsley that that’s where it’s heading?
FIFIELD:
Well the Party isn’t heading towards insolvency. The Liberal Party is a voluntary organisation. We rely very much on donations. We’re not in the position of the Australian Labor Party, who have the guaranteed rivers of gold coming in from the trade union movement. So we’ve got to raise money to fund our campaigns. We can’t rely on external parties to do that for us. Obviously having had a federal election, you spend a lot of money. So we’re recommencing the process of fundraising again in preparation for the next election. One of the great differences between ourselves and the Labor Party is that we don’t have that Sussex Street mafia culture, where the Sussex Street heavies get on the phone to business and say, ‘look you’d better donate if you don’t donate, it will be noted,’ with a very clear threat behind the comment. We’re not that sort of an operation. We rely on voluntary donations, so it’s always a challenge to raise money.
GILBERT:
Michael Yabsley also refers to the Party machine not keeping up with the Parliamentary Party that you’re doing well politically but not necessarily in terms of the Party executives, the strategists and so on within the Liberal Party headquarters. Do you share those concerns?
FIFIELD:
Well look, as a Party, you can always do better. And look, we failed to form Government after the last election. And that is the only measure of success for our Party – did we form Government. So clearly we failed on the measure. Peter Reith has been appointed to conduct a review of the last election, and Peter will be looking at the full range of campaign techniques and campaign requirements.
GILBERT:
Alright, let’s look at the issue of Ausmin, we touched on it earlier in the programme with the Defence Minister. Sarah Hanson-Young, I want to ask you about what Defence Minister Stephen Smith had to say. When it comes to the increasing and ever-closer military ties with the United States, are you comfortable with a greater US military presence on Australian soil?
HANSON-YOUNG:
Look, I think what we need to be looking at in relation to our alliance with the US is making sure that it’s an equal partnership. There’s nothing wrong with becoming closer, as long as, as good friends, we treat each other equally and that we get mutual benefit from that. I’d really like to see out of these talks, and of course from the further analysis of that, is how equal is our relationship with the US when it comes to our military ties? If we’re going to be giving up our ports and our military spaces for the use of the US, exactly what are we getting in return for that? And do we have the same types of abilities to call on them and their resources to further our abilities as well? I think we need to be looking at that in relation to our relationship with the US in Afghanistan, and also of course our Free Trade Agreement, where Australian producers, when you look at it from an independent point of view, have lost out because of that Free Trade Agreement to date.
GILBERT:
Okay, and Senator Fifield, your thoughts? And should we be worried or at least try to address the concern that might be expressed in Beijing about the ever-closer military ties with the United States, particularly given our economic relationship with the rising power, China?
FIFIELD:
Well, we’re in the fortunate position of having a very close relationship with our alliance partner the United States, and also a very good relationship with our strong trading partner and regional neighbour in China. I don’t think you’ve got to choose between the two relationships. They both have different characteristics and different strengths, and we’re in a very fortunate position to be on very good terms with both nations. I must say Kieran, one thing that I do find intriguing and pleasing when we have AUSMIN meetings is how positive the Australian Labor Party is to the US alliance. It’s sometimes said that no-one every joins the Australian Labor Party with the intention of championing small business. And there are few, with the exception of people like Kim Beasley, who join the Labor Party with the intention of championing the Australian-US alliance. So I’m always pleased to see people such as Julia Gillard championing the alliance, something which they mightn’t have done in their University days or early days in politics. So that’s something which I find heartening.
GILBERT:
Okay, just finally, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, we’ve got less than a minute to go, but just on Fiji. The United States appears to be engaging more with the Bainimarama regime. What do you make of that? Should Australia change its tact?
HANSON-YOUNG:
Well look, I think we need to be focussing far more on the Asia-Pacific region and really on what’s going on. And I talk about it from a human rights and educational perspective I think we need to be doing far more in those areas in our immediate region. But in relation to Fiji, I do think we need to be careful. We’ve sent some strong messages in the recent past to Fiji, to say that we really don’t accept the idea of disadvantaging their own community for the sake of military might and political might. I would hate to think that anything that we’re doing is being undermined.
GILBERT:
Alright, Senator Hanson-Young and Senator Fifield, thanks for your time. That’s all we have time for here on AM Agenda. Appreciate your company.
HANSON-YOUNG:
Thank you.
FIFIELD:
Thanks Kieran.
ENDS