The Banking Royal Commission is still revealing more and more illegal and unconscionable conduct by banks and financial advisors. This week the ANZ Bank revealed that nearly a quarter of their financial planners had been disciplined for giving inappropriate advice that potentially benefitted them rather than their clients. Not only that, but the regulator, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), has been a toothless tiger. ASIC requires that companies report the fact that they may have broken the law within 10 days of the discovery of such information – and it theoretically has the power to prosecute if companies report later than that, but hasn’t. In fact, during this royal commission bank officials have admitted to knowing of potentially illegal actions and have not reported them to ASIC for years.
The government is also struggling with the Royal Commission issue, initially not wanting to admit they shouldn’t have resisted calls for a commission in the first place – something the backbench was getting irritated with because they can’t claim victory for starting up the commission until the senior MPs and ministers admit the mea culpa. Later in the week Malcolm Turnbull eventually admitted that there should have been less resistance and an earlier start to the commission.
Malcolm Turnbull spend the earlier part of the week finishing off his European trip, visiting Germany and France. In Germany he met with Angela Merkel and discussed the bilateral relationship and the potential for closer trade and security ties with Germany and the European Union post-Brexit. Then in France, Turnbull travelled to the town of Villers-Bretonneux where Australian soldiers fought off the Germans in the First World War. There he opened the Sir John Monash Centre (the brainchild of former PM Tony Abbott) on the centenary of the battle on ANZAC Day.
On ANZAC Day, the country commemorated the day with dawn services across the country, including at the Australian War Memorial, the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney’s Martin Place, as well as at Gallipoli and Villers-Bretonneux. There were other ceremonies and commemorations, with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attending the New Zealand War Memorial in London, as well as a memorial service at Westminster Abbey (where Prince William was caught trying not to fall asleep).
The Government has also announced that they no longer plan to raise the Medicare Levy in order to pay for the NDIS program, saying they have other ways to pay for it. What those ways may be are unclear at the moment. Those using the NDIS are not so sure of and are now concerned about how their programs will be funded.
Also this week, Professor Clinton Fernandes has taken ASIS (Australia’s international spy agency) to court to get them to release 40-year-old intelligence documents regarding what Australia knew in the lead up to the Indonesian invasion of Timor-Leste. Fernandes, a university professor and historical advisor to the historical movie Balibo is trying to get the documents released in order to tell the whole story.
Finally this week, the Anglican Church has announced it may sell some of their church land in order to pay for the Institutional Abuse redress scheme in states that have signed up; Trump has decided to send the guy who was supposed to be the US Ambassador to Australia to help out with the North Korean peace thing – the government doesn’t see it as a snub but as a useful person being sent to a place where they’ll be useful; and AGL has got at least some of their Liddell coal power plant replacements – with a gas plant to be built outside of Newcastle and another plant to be built between Sydney and Wollongong (pending government and community approval).
Tweet of the Week
Senate Estimates have been taking place at the moment too… (N.B. the BCA is the Business Council of Australia)
https://twitter.com/KKeneally/status/988658604088545281
Things I’ve Been Looking at Online
Who has what information on you on the internet? – ABC Online
Kim Jong-Un is in it for the money – ABC Online
Kara L 