Tension rising over banks

MALCOLM Turnbull’s Trade Minister, Steve Ciobo, has urged Coalition backbenchers not to cross the floor to back Labor and the Greens’ plan for a banking royal commission.

On ABC radio yesterday, Mr Ciobo questioned why his colleagues would threaten to cross the floor given the government was already cracking down on bad bank behaviour.

“What is the rationale for doing that? The simple fact is that as a government we’re taking concrete steps to do several things,” he said.

“One, we’re reinforcing the role that ASIC has in terms of being a judge in relation to corporate behaviour.

“The second thing is we’ve implemented a whole range of new legislation, including new accountability frameworks on the banking executives for the decisions that they take.”

He said Labor’s call for a royal commission was a stunt.

Mr Ciobo’s comments came after the ABC reported three Coalition backbenchers – Nationals MP George Christensen and Liberals Warren Entsch and Ann Sudmalis – were considering crossing the floor to support a banking royal commission.

Mr Entsch rejected that report yesterday but said he stood by his warning to Treasurer Scott Morrison that “all hell” would break loose if historic allegations of misconduct by Australia’s banks were not investigated.

Mr Turnbull faces the possibility of an embarrassing backbench revolt over the banking royal commission in the final sitting weeks of the year when, for at least a week, he won’t have a one-seat majority in the lower house due to Barnaby Joyce’s departure following his disqualification by the High Court.