06-December-2010
Portfolio Media Releases, The Economy
Topics: banking, industrial relations
E&OE
MARIUS BENSON:
Andrew Robb, federal cabinet is expected to sign off measures today to give the smaller banks, the building societies, the credit unions a leg up in competition with the big four banks.
A step in the right direction?
ANDREW ROBB:
Well let’s see what they propose. Certainly something has to be done. The botching in many respects of the Government’s guarantees that they put in place during the global financial crisis led to the departure of so much competition in the banking sector and the Government must take some very positive steps to try and turn that around.
MARIUS BENSON:
We’ve got a rough idea of what the Government has in mind. It will provide some guarantees to the smaller institutions and it will give the ACCC, the Competition and Consumer Commission, new powers to regulate price signalling and also to investigate fees.
Are they the sort of measures that are appropriate?
ANDREW ROBB:
Well they sound like a start but I’ll need to see the detail of it. But overwhelmingly what needs to be done is to increase the liquidity available to the regional banks and other institutions beyond the big four.
MARIUS BENSON:
Can I turn to industrial issues because the Australian Financial Review is reporting this morning that unions are increasing the threat of strikes using Labor’s Fair Work industrial laws.
Do you see that as a problem?
ANDREW ROBB:
Well, our situation is that we will spend this three years examining how the laws that have been brought in by the Gillard Government, how they’re working against what they said would happen.
We’re not going to make change for changes sake. But if industry puts forward a compelling case that Gillard’s laws have tipped the balance the other way, in other words they’ve gone much further than getting rid of Work Choices, then we’ll make that assessment and we’ll respond at the next election as we always said we would going into the last election.
MARIUS BENSON:
What’s industry saying to you now? You’ve been quoted as saying business is getting restless.
ANDREW ROBB:
Well, we’ve had, I’ve had and others have had, a series of anecdotal examples given to us about things that they’re concerned about. If this makes a compelling case that the Gillard Government has seriously moved on from what they said they would, then we will look to, we will look to put appropriate changes at the next election.
MARIUS BENSON:
Why is it up to business to make the case against the Government when the Opposition makes the case against the Government in all other areas?
ANDREW ROBB:
Well the thing is we’re not looking to make change for changes sake. We need to understand that the changes that are being made, well we need to be convinced that changes that are being made, if they have gone beyond, well beyond getting rid of Work Choices and reverted back to a situation, you know, of decades ago, then there is a case for correction.
MARIUS BENSON:
Can you say at this distance whether you will be proposing changes to the Labor Party’s industrial laws at the next election or whether you’ll be fulling endorsing them?
ANDREW ROBB:
What I can say to you is that we will spend the next three years exhaustively looking at how these laws are impacting on business because in many respects, the highest productivity opportunities are when you’ve got a truly flexible and fair work place.
Now if it has been tilted too far the other way and the unions are back in town in terms of dictating what happens in the workplace…
MARIUS BENSON:
Do you see on the evidence, to date, any evidence that the unions are, in your phrase, back in town?
ANDREW ROBB:
Well, we’ve heard anecdotal evidence, it’s now our, it’s now our responsibility with industry, to explore and examine, you know, whether this widespread, whether it’s a case of the legislation allowing it to happen or whether they’re simply acting in a unilateral way. And if there’s a need for change, we’ll put that to the people.
MARIUS BENSON:
Andrew Robb, thank you very much.
ANDREW ROBB:
Thanks Marius.