A Royal Commission to investigate banks took a step closer after two senators and two Lower House members vowed they would push the Coalition Government into establishing an inquiry as soon as possible.
Bob Katter, One Nation senators Rod Culleton and Malcolm Roberts and the ALP member for Herbert, Cathy O’Toole at a Townsville meeting on Saturday condemned current banking practices.
They agreed that for Australia to survive record bank foreclosures and business failures, the banks had to operate within the law.
Speakers believed the Coalition Government would not take any action to rein in “unlawful” banking practices which had caused multiple suicides, family break-ups and business failures around the nation.
Western Australia One Nation senator Rod Culleton slammed the record number of foreclosures describing how he too had been a victim of “dodgy” banks.
“Banks operate like organised crime,” Senator Culleton said.
“I’ve had a litany of evidence come into my office of receivers sinking the boot into their customers.
“That’s what they think about the lamb chop on their plate; enough is enough.
“The banks seem to think they are above the law because they’re unregulated, we’re going to change that.” He said if banks did not support their customers through thick and thin, he’d support the creation of a sovereign rural bank to assist farmers.
“We’re here to correct things and we’re in support of a sovereign rural bank where the beneficiaries are the people who bank with it,” he said.
“It’s important the public realise if we lose our agriculture and our rural people we will be in strife and we will lose the quality of our food.”
Member for Kennedy Bob Katter told the crowd of 50 farmers, small businessmen and home owners the banks own the Australian Government.
“Banks have the only government guaranteed business in Australia,” Mr Katter said.
“We only need one vote to get the royal commission but in 16 years no member has ever crossed the floor in Federal Parliament when it comes to banks.”
“My office has details of nearly 100 cases of banking malpractice that has ruined businesses and families.”
Supporting the One Nation senators and Mr Katter was Member for Herbert Cathy O’Toole saying she too had banking industry misbehaviour in her sights.
“We need Australians to believe they can have confidence in the banks and financial institutions that serve us,” she said.
“And we aren’t even measuring the holistic cost to the people affected in our communities.
“The first place you’d want to have a look at the additional costs is in healthcare, people’s physical, mental and emotional health has been destroyed; families have been destroyed and suicides are occurring.
“All these things have a huge impact on the social structure of community in addition to the financial impact.”
Burdekin-district sugar industry advocate Margaret Menzell agreed a royal commission was needed but warned the meeting the Australian Banking Association was gearing up for a massive publicity blitz to ward off the establishment of an inquiry.
Meeting resolutions
Nine resolutions were passed by the meeting calling for the establishment of a royal commission, abolition of the arbitrary appointment of receivers by anyone, condemning the actions of government in allowing banks to act with impunity, creation of a development bank for primary and secondary industries and infrastructure, the role of police is to protect the public and then property and forbid the use of police to reinforce property repossessions, restore a grand jury system to deter corporations from engaging in unconscionable and unlawful conduct and restore compliance with Chapter 3 of the Commonwealth Constitution, property to be found disposed of unethically must be restored, the terms of reference include an investigation of the creation of credit by trading banks, a moratorium be immediately imposed on forced property sales.
All resolutions passed unanimously.
Well said Steve. We agree. Editor
Foreign investment = Foreign profit. Foreign investment pushes up land and home prices, more profit for investors, so young families pay more interest to banks, more family stress, more family carnage, more profits to lawyers, whom invest in property. The vicious and idle are praying on the workers and their families.
There done the same to Australian commonwealth, put us in so much debt, we are paying interest only, capital slavery, human traffickers do the same thing.
Foreign investment is quite literately enslaving our young families and destroying our kids, is the worst thing we are facing as a nation, the most important and pressing problem.
Stop foreign investment, start with a small wedge, call for a moratorium on foreign investment, then call for ban on foreign investors, forces them to sell, prices will fall, we will reap trillions, problem solved. Our base as nation is our young families, we need to protect them from predation. China maybe our largest trading partner, is nothing to be proud of.
We need to strengthen our ties with local allies, like Philippines, Japan, India.
We have very strong enemies in Indonesia and China.
LNP ALP are selling us to China that kill hundred of thousands of there own best for body parts. Keeping China and Indonesia out of Australia will take some doing. Please call for a 10 year moratorium on foreign sales.