The average Joe already knew what the banking Royal Commission uncovered
If you’d asked the average Joe, they would’ve confidently told you our financial sector was in major strife. But the higher you went up the ranks, the less likely you were to find people accepting (or maybe admitting) this strife everyday Australians were insisting the sector was in. Banking Royal Commission
So when the banking Royal Commission hearings started, it was the politically elite who were shocked at what was being uncovered. Or maybe it was a case of: “I didn’t hear anything. I didn’t see anything. I didn’t say anything”. Banking executives giving the wrong advice; AMP lying to the Australian Securities and Investment Commission; banks putting profits before the people … It seems like the average Australian already knew all of this.
What most people forget is that the banks are, ultimately, taxpayer-subsidised – or in any given event will be if the banks somehow lost all their money. But their disregard to the taxpayer, including their lack of accountability and transparency speaks volumes.
The federal government was wrong to insist there was nothing to uncover, and thankfully most are publicly admitting they were wrong. But this acknowledgement will not be enough. We can only hope this banking Royal Commission brings about much-needed and long-lasting change. And hopefully it’ll be a cultural change where the people are put before products (and profits).
Australian household debt has more than doubled between 1995 and 2015, going from 104 per cent to 212 per cent, according to OECD data. As more and more of us aim to own homes, competing against savvy investors, we continue to rely on other banking products (ie. car loans and credit cards) to get us by. Of course, the banks are happy to lend us … How else would we be a nation of 24 million people owing $32 billion to the banks?
