2018-08-28
Greens Treasury Spokesperson, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, comments on the new Prime Minister's appointment of Stuart Robert MP as Assistant Treasurer with responsibility for financial services who has claimed financial scandals are ‘inevitable'.
Senator Whish-Wilson said, “After these comments, I wouldn’t even want Stuart Robert to be the junior minister who puts his name to media releases about the latest edition of commemorative coins, let alone put him anywhere near the oversight of the financial system.
“His out of touch comments imply that misconduct is normal within our financial system and is just a fact of life we must accept, not try too hard to eradicate.
“Stuart Robert’s comments about wanting the banks to self-regulate is an insult to every bank victim and shows a total disregard for any of the evidence that comes out from the Royal Commission.
“Has Stuart Robert even been paying attention to what’s been going on at the Royal Commission? Has he seen the constant contempt the banks have had for the regulators and that ASIC and APRA have been routinely scolded by both the Royal Commission and the Productivity Commission for a lack of public enforcement of existing laws?
“Did Scott Morrison ask who is the best person to raise donations from the financial sector, rather than who is the best person to regulate them? If the new Prime Minister wants the public to have any confidence that he is serious about reining in the banks then he has to make some changes immediately," he concluded.