In the report ‘‘ASIC ‘not right banks watchdog’’’ (April 25, p6) it is pointed out that still more questionable practices are being revealed by the banking royal commission.
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For example, a senior NAB officer, Andrew Hagger, admitted to the commission that NAB planners had a culture of thinking that falsely witnessing documents would help the clients.
Mr Hagger told the commission that the bank’s financial planners had falsified the financial documents of ‘‘thousands’’ of the bank’s customers by having other staff falsely witness their signatures.
One financial planner even forged the initials of a couple on a death beneficiary form, but his carelessness caught him out: he had the initials switched around.
NAB was far from being alone. ANZ told the commission that one of its planners was reported to police for misappropriating clients’ funds on ‘‘at least three occasions’’ but the bank ‘‘was compensating only those customers who had complained’’. There has been much talk of this sort of behaviour being in the interests of shareholders. In the article ‘‘Banks show power of KPIs’’ (April 25, p16), Ross Gittins writes that senior bank staff, ‘‘incentivised’’ with performance targets and bonuses, are really just looking after their own interests.
The banks rake in the billions and their senior staff get fat bonuses, bank customers are suffering — some even losing their life savings. The banks and large financial institutions must be brought to heel. A specialist regulatory body such as recommended by the Wallis committee of inquiry may be a good first step.
Douglas Mackenzie, Deakin
ACCC shows strength
Professor Ian Harper has said he got it wrong when he recommended making ASIC the exclusive regulator for consumer protection in financial services and that perhaps it suffers from the Stockholm Syndrome.
The industry sector became the only area excluded from general consumer protection law and action by the ACCC with the passage of the Corporate Law Economic Reform Act 1998.
I knew a bit about consumer protection in this area, having served on the life insurance complaints panel and the banking ombudsman council and made a submission arguing against this. I said that the ACCC being able to act as well as ASIC would be ‘‘a powerful discipline’’.
The ACCC taking action when industry specific regulators don’t do a good enough job can make them lift their game. Though the Therapeutic Goods Administration still needs more sharpening up, the ACCC’s action on misleading claims about Nurofen is a good example.
Robin M. G. Brown, Yarralumla
Keeping busy
Crikey, it’s nearly May already. Time to start ticking off my ‘‘to do’’ list. Here goes:
Ring the embassy of the USA in Canberra and ask to speak to the ambassador.
Start looking for Brendan Smyth again.
Visit the new walkway and park in West Basin.
Make an appointment with an AMP or big bank financial planner and don’t turn up.
Try to find that elusive second petrol station in Weston Creek.
Ring the Saudi Arabian embassy again and suggest they pay their ACT traffic fines.
Keep an eye out for rain. Look forward to one of our local footy teams winning a game.
Test myself to see if I can remember the names of half our local political representatives.
Write another chapter of my book in progress ‘‘A Lake and a Tram’’.
That should keep me out of mischief.
John Mungoven, Stirling
Waiting for fission
I always read Douglas McKenzie’s letters to the CT because he has his head screwed on and presents strong arguments on a variety of matters.
On April 25 he discussed the very important issue of energy, in relation to recent comments made by the deputy premier of NSW.
The thrust of Douglas’ first comments suggested he was in favour of nuclear power, and gave France as an example of success over a long period. I wondered at this point what France did with their half-century of nuclear waste. It seems they have this under control, and we should take heed, despite potential problems with this in Australia, an issue Douglas raises.
Re nuclear versus solar, wind turbine and other energy sources, Douglas now thinks the latter will win, given the enormous advances in more recent times, which include refined battery storage.
I remain unconvinced about this, although I believe, as no doubt Douglas does, anything is better than fossil fuels.
The issues inevitably relate to the balance of health and the environment, as against the efficiency and longevity of power production and, of course, its cost.
To me, health is number one. On cost, the economists should go to Antarctica and cool down; health is worth paying for. Without doubt, nuclear fusion power delivers infinitely more energy per gram of fuel than other energy sources, although the sources are not infinite.
I no longer believe health is a serious issue here, nor the abuse of such power. A balance between this and our renewables (wind, solar, geothermal and wave generated power) should now be considered. I await the day controlled nuclear fission power can be harnessed, in principle the best of the lot.
Greg Jackson, Kambah
Moving borders
Why do the Ginninderry developers need a project-specific, essentially private ‘‘trust’’ to mange environmental issues, especially the superb, but privately owned, closed Ginninderra Falls section, located in the large NSW part of the overall development (‘‘Riverview seeks EIS exemption for Ginninderry’’, April 2, p2)?
Despite the developer’s conscientious work on those matters, they really should be solely a government concern, and the falls section, including a wide buffer zone around it, should become a National Park.
Reportedly, there are joint governmental meetings being held to look at (logically) moving the border so that all of Ginninderry, and similar land, is sensibly in the ACT.
Jack Kershaw, Kambah
More than Bali
Reading Harold Mitchell’s very informative article ‘‘Bogor, not Bali, an indicator of Indonesia’s huge potential’’ (April 20, p37), reminded me of the time in 1971 when, before leaving on the first of four diplomatic postings to Indonesia, I asked a friend if he had ever been to Indonesia. He replied, ‘‘No, only to Bali.’’
Thankfully, a lot has changed in the past 47 years regarding Australia’s knowledge and understanding of its largest neighbour.
However, as Harold points out, ‘‘Australians generally don’t recognise that there is more to Indonesia than Bali.’’
John Milne, Chapman
Doomed to disappear
The Chief Planner, Ben Ponton's desire to improve the Territory Plan is doomed to failure unless there is a comprehensive underlying strategic plan for thecity.
A major focus of the strategic plan should be resilience, the ability of the city to absorb, recover and prepare for future economic, environmental and social shocks.
Crucial decisions within this resilience frame include the transport system, land use distribution and housing.
To reduce emissions, the transport system and land use distribution should focus on reducing overall travel and increasing accessibility.
Alternative approaches include the introduction of electric buses, including high-capacity electric buses on the inter-town public transport network; increasing the frequency of public transport services throughout Canberra and dispersing employment to the town centres to place jobs closer to homes. A light rail option may be suboptimal given its expense and inflexibility.
Housing areas need to be efficiently connected to employment by high-quality and flexible public transport and be designed to minimise energy and water use. The design of higher density dwellings should meet the needs of all households including those with children. Housing options should be available in all areas regardless of a person's age or income, and strategies should aim to minimise congestion and increase housing affordability. The successful development of the strategic plan and review of the Territory Plan require additional professional resources to ensure the plans are based on analysis rather than empty rhetoric and half-baked consultation.
Mike Quirk, Garran
Must do better
With the news that Australia is now unable to unload our trash onto China, coupled with the fact that this country's past/present governments have unbelievably failed to address how to manage our waste and recycling, we are facing a crisis.
Most states are ill prepared to cope with the volume of recyclable and non-recyclable items that we produce, claiming that recycling will now go to landfill.
Calls for companies to take greater responsibility in dealing with the waste their products create are being raised, which will hopefully be enacted to curb the appalling overpackaging that the majority of products are guilty of.
However, demand creates supply. We as consumers need to be accountable and responsible for our actions and the ensuing detrimental impact on the earth.
We need to stop accumulating stuff to satisfy our inadequacies and greed.
We can continue to demand better from our "leaders" and others, but first we need to demand better from ourselves.
S. Brook, Watson
Future flying high
You report the public is keen to engage in household recycling programs ("It's time to transform", April 26, p7).
This renewed interest has come about following the refusal of China to accept any more overseas waste. Perhaps it is now the time to look at using all or, at least, some of the 100,000 tonnes of non-putrescent vegetable matter sent to the Woodlawn land fill near Goulburn each year.
The CT has reported that 330,000 tonnes of waste are sent to the Woodlawn land fill.
Overseas experience shows that more than 50 per cent of the food waste can be processed into into protein and oil by feeding the waste to black soldier flies. BSF larvae are 70 per cent protein and 15 per cent fat.
The protein is fed to normal livestock including fish, poultry and cattle. It can even be put on your cornflakes if you ignore the "yuck" factor.
How about a factory in the Majura Valley off the end of the airport runway extension? The waste from the production line goes to a bio-digester for energy and the waste from the bio-digester goes to farm pastures.
Roy Bray, Flynn
Still waiting
The announcement that 1000 people will be recruited privately to improve Centrelink's phone wait times may ultimately be folly; an expensive, unproductive, and eventually potentially embarrassing "announceable".
Having had a few years of government front-line customer interviewing experience in a related department with a similarly complex client eligibility and program policy environment, it seems to me to border on the ridiculous to assume that just because phones are lifted quicker you will really be helping people by effectively fobbing them off until someone who actually works for the department can get back to them.
On the other hand, were these new private recruits to be equipped to actually provide basic Centrelink advice it would mean incurring a very considerable cost in training time and money, bringing as well the risk of clients being further frustrated when initial expectations are overruled.
The real solution is taking the broadest of views; working towards automatic basic eligibilities, directing payments to a dedicated welfare debit card with certain restrictions attaching thereto, and educating the public rather than stooping to them.
Ross Kelly, Monash
Dirty work
Richard Keys (Letters, April 23) alluded to the prospect of CIA involvement in the Whitlam Dismissal saga, referring to evidence revealed in the book and film The Falcon and the Snowman, a publication hard to find these days.
However, there is significant material in the public domain that adds credence to the theory of CIA influence.
For those interested, try the following sources:
New illuminati. The CIA in Australia: America's Foreign Watergate. www.serendipity.li/cia—oz/cia—oz1.htm. The CIA in Australia. A five-part documentary, Watching Brief, Public Radio News Service, Melbourne, Oct-Nov 1986. Killing Hope: US Military and CIA interventions since World War II, William Blum (also hard to find these days).
Of course, I cannot vouch for the veracity of the authors' research, but the details therein are mutually supporting and tend to suggest external influence.
But I guess no one will ever be able to prove it!
Steve Hart, Hawker
TO THE POINT
BRIDGING DIFFICULTIES
Couldn't a competent engineer design a light rail bridge to hang and be built between the two existing bridge spans comprising Commonwealth Avenue Bridge? If NCA doesn't co-operate then run stage 2 to Russell then build a new bridge across the lake (with NCA approval) to Kingston. Then run the light rail to Woden. The NCA might then have to fund the light rail into the Parliamentary Triangle.
Edward Corbitt, Farrer
BUSINESS AS USUAL
The banking royal commission is not telling us anything that we didn't already know. Businesses will lie, cheat and steal at every opportunity and, in the unlikely event that they get caught, will pay a small fine. The executives responsible will be given a slap on the wrist while the government wrings its hands and calls for improved self-regulation. Tomorrow it'll be back to business as usual.
Fred Pilcher, Kaleen
TWEAK TAX TREATMENT
Australia has too much debt and not enough tax. A solution is to make the tax treatment on capital the same for companies as for individuals. Individuals cannot get a tax deduction for the interest they pay on their houses.
Individuals cannot get a tax deduction for depreciation on their homes.
Companies can. Stop these company tax deductions, and Australia will become debt free, the current account will be positive, tax rates will fall, wages and employment will go up, and prices will stabilise.
Kevin Cox, Ngunnawal
HEWSON RIGHT ON SHEEP
Great to see John Hewson's endorsement of the phasing out of the live sheep export trade. Many other prominent people need to speak out to shame the government into ending this vile practice. Maintain the outrage to end all live animal export.
Jan Johnston, Curtin
AUTO ITALIA FAIL
There's been a couple of unhappy people writing about this year's Auto Italia. Yes, the NCA has shut down the lawns and its other sacred grass areas. It's the Auto Italia people you should blame for selecting this venue, with only one entry/exit road. All the other car shows that used to be held in the ACT have now moved to Queanbeyan, where the council offers a number of great venues.
Horst Kirchner, Terribly British Car Show, Canberra
RECYCLING CHALLENGE
China's recycling backdown is not just Queensland's problem, it's a national challenge. Create recycling cities away from our over-crowded capitals. Set them up on the promised fast train routes. Offer subsidised home-buying and other incentives. Come on, Turnbull, get to work on this! Or we'll really be "kicking the can down the street".
Percival Vere, Dickson
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