O'Dwyer: I've answered your question.

Cassidy: No you haven't.

O'Dwyer: I have answered your question.

Cassidy: You haven't said whether you were wrong or right to delay it.

O'Dwyer: I've said we've established it. We have in fact established it.

Cassidy: You have established it, but it took a long time coming. Were you wrong?

O'Dwyer: Well let me put it to you this way. We would not have done all those other things that we would otherwise have done to address these actions.

Kelly O'Dwyer won't concede Government was wrong on delaying banking royal commission

Financial Services Minister Kelly O'Dwyer has repeatedly avoided answering questions on whether it was wrong to delay establishing a royal commission into the banking sector, after a week of shocking revelations.

The commission has heard alarming evidence of dodgy financial advice and that customers, including those who had died, were being charged fees for no service.

Banking probe poorly judged

The Government's misjudgement on the need for a banking royal commission has come back to bite it, writes Michelle Grattan.

The Federal Government had resisted calls from Labor to establish a royal commission, arguing it would be a reckless inquiry that would undermine confidence in the banking sector.

But Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was eventually forced to change the Government's position, after pressure from his own backbench and an admission from the big four banks that an inquiry was necessary to restore public faith in the financial system.

In a terse interview on the ABC's Insiders program, Ms O'Dwyer was grilled by host Barrie Cassidy on whether the Coalition had made an error of judgment in waiting to launch the inquiry.

The Minister refused to make that concession, instead arguing the Government had spent the time "soberly" considering other reforms for the sector.

Ms O'Dwyer suggested that the media and Labor were wanting to "obsess" about the timing of the commission.

From awful to shocking

Extraordinary deception. Atrocious behaviour. No concern about consequences. This week's evidence was consequential and now the political environment has shifted, writes Dan Ziffer.
"I'm actually obsessed about fixing the problems," she argued.

"There is no question we got it right in establishing the royal commission."

Mr Turnbull, Treasurer Scott Morrison and Ms O'Dwyer were among the Coalition's top brass rubbishing Labor's proposal for an inquiry, which Opposition Leader Bill Shorten took to the last election.

"This Government is from another planet," shadow finance minister Jim Chalmers told the ABC.

"They've learnt absolutely nothing from all of the scandalous revelations that we've heard over the last little while in the royal commission.

"They still can't bring themselves to say that they were wrong to run a protection racket against that royal commission for so long."

Last week, former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce admitted he was wrong to have opposed calls for an inquiry, despite the fact some of his Nationals colleagues were the most vocal advocates for a royal commission.

On Friday, Ms O'Dwyer announced tougher penalties for dodgy bankers and other corporate criminals, including prison terms of up to ten years.

The depressed Lefties somehow reckon the Banking RC is going to change something.  What did the much bigger unions TURC change ?

juliar wrote on Apr 23^rd, 2018 at 10:19am:


Some of the characters that we have all been accused of being envious of because of their supposed 'success' might get their collars felt now or pulled down a peg or two with massive fines. That in itself would be quite an achievement wouldn't it socko

Its time wrote on Apr 23^rd, 2018 at 10:12am:



If Bill was right "all along" why didn't he do it when he was the responsible minister? never even ATTEMPTED it.

"After all, if Shorten had any grand regulatory dreams for the sector he had ample opportunity to chase them in the three years he spent as Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-19/berg-no-wonder-we-hate-the-banks/7336768

Its time wrote on Apr 23^rd, 2018 at 10:12am:



If Bill was right "all along" why didn't he do it when he was the responsible minister? never even ATTEMPTED it.

"After all, if Shorten had any grand regulatory dreams for the sector he had ample opportunity to chase them in the three years he spent as Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-19/berg-no-wonder-we-hate-the-banks/7336768

When politicians do this they only succeed like Kelly here in making themselves look sneaky and dishonest, I have no idea why they do this to themselves.