Greens “fairer” banking would go well in Venezuela
13 August 2010
Australians would pay more for banking services and get a lot less under the so-called “fairer” banking policy of the Greens, announced by Bob Brown yesterday.
“Bob Brown has never seen a regulation he doesn’t like,” said Liberal Democrats Victorian Senate candidate Ross Currie.
“The policy of regulating to force banks to offer certain services and then dictating the price of those services reminds me of Hugo Chavez and Venezuela. Once Brown found out it didn’t work, he’d probably want to nationalise them.”
“And it definitely wouldn’t work. Politicians and public servants do not know how to run banks, as we saw when the Commonwealth Bank was owned by the government.
“The bank is now owned by Australian shareholders who enjoy the fact that it generates a decent return on capital and pays dividends. They do not want politicians like Bob Brown trying to turn back the clock.”
The Liberal Democrats argue that increasing compliance and bureaucracy imposed on business inevitably leads to more expensive and lower quality services.
“The banks have an obligation to maximise their profit, not limit it according to what some politician thinks is reasonable. If the government thinks bank profits are too high, the best response is to open up the banking market to more competition,” said Mr Currie.
“The Greens acknowledge that the four pillars policy and bank guarantee have allowed the four major banks to generate significant profits, yet they refuse to touch these.
“The Liberal Democrats believe Australians would prefer a more competitive banking industry, whatever the profits of individual banks. This can be achieved by abandoning the four pillars policy and allowing greater competition.
“Competition will bring a range of benefits to consumers including cheaper loans, higher deposit rates, lower fees and improved lending contracts,” noted Mr Currie.
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