Bank interest rates for existing customers
Senator Craughwell condemns banks for offering lower rates and incentives to new customers while continuing to disadvantage long-standing borrowers.
It would have been the way forward. I ask the Leader to arrange to have a report from that group as soon as possible.
With respect to Senator Quinn and the banks, I am absolutely astonished by the fact that the banks in this country are screwing hard-pressed middle-income earners by not reducing interest rates, while at the same time dropping prices, offering switching incentives and offering to pay stamp duty for first-time buyers. The banks are offering all sorts of incentives to new customers, yet they continue to screw their long-standing customers because they made the mistake of offering mortgage systems that were beyond their capability to sustain. I would go further than Senator Quinn. I think we need somebody from the Department of Finance to put a bit of smacht on these banks and get them to start treating all customers equally.