Andrew Leigh

MORRISON’S PREMATURE PRONOUNCEMENT

Scott Morrison has pounced on an interim consumer watchdog report into whether the Turnbull Government’s Bank Levy is being passed on through higher mortgage rates.

The report looks at the first 90 days of the levy’s operation.

Mr Morrison was quick to claim victory, claiming that the levy was not passed on to consumers.

As the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission states:

However, this does not necessarily mean that the Inquiry Banks have not changed prices for other products in response to the Major Bank Levy

ACCC, Residential mortgage price inquiry interim report page 44

The ACCC continues:

The opaque pricing of discounts offered on residential mortgage rates makes it difficult for customers to make informed choices and disadvantages borrowers who do not regularly review their choice of lender.

Australians have every right to be cautious about Mr Morrison’s victory lap.

The Turnbull Government has said that it ‘regrets’ being forced into a banking royal commission. The Liberals took over a year to match Labor’s commitment to greater competition for member-owned banks. The Government still refuses to give the ACCC a fully-autonomous market studies function to investigate consumer issues when they see a public interest, not just when the Treasurer doth decree.

Labor keenly awaits the ACCC’s final report, and their careful analysis of the impact on consumers of the government’s hastily devised Major Bank Levy. 

THURSDAY, 15 MARCH 2018

Authorised by Noah Carroll, ALP, Canberra