TODAY is a significant day for banking customers. This morning, KAP Leader and Federal Member for Kennedy Bob Katter introduced into the Federal Parliament the Banking System Reform (Separation of Banks) Bill 2018.

The Bill is about protecting customers against some of the bad behaviour and highly unethical practices that have been exposed during the Royal Commission into the banking sector. A much-needed Royal Commission that the Member for Kennedy called for several times since 2015 when he was the first to raise the issue in the Parliament.

This Bill will separate retail commercial banking activities involving the holding of deposits, from wholesale and investment banking involving risky activities.

In a passionate speech Mr Katter told the Parliament, “ The situation in Australia is ugly and it is evil and this Legislation is needed to overcome those problems and what effectively it says is – ‘Mr Banks’ you are no longer out there in the market, in the arena buying and selling. Your job is to loan to people that buy and sell, develop and invest. You don’t do that, you judge them.

“The housing boom in Australia today – I mean does anyone seriously think that we’re not sitting on the brink of disaster?  A quarter of Australia’s population (maybe even a third) live in Newcastle, Sydney and Wollongong. The average price of a house is over $800 000 – that means 50% of those houses are over that value and yet the average income for an Australian after tax is about $50 000 a year. How are they going to make the repayments on a house? And yet they are buying houses? Because the banks are financing them, the banks make money and you go broke. They sell the house out from under you. They don’t lose money. They make money. They should be held responsible.”

Mr Katter concluded with a quote from Robert Menzies – “‘Government must be involved if our economic democracy is to be preserved‘,  I don’t often quote him but I will on this one.”

Mr Katter was joined in the Parliament by KAP’S Senator Fraser Anning together with Banking industry expert Robert Barwick, Former APRA Principal Researcher Dr Wilson Sy and lawyer Bob Butler.