Hockey defends bank reforms

Shadow treasurer Joe Hockey has stuck to his bank reform agenda, despite reports at
least one of his colleagues is trying to undermine his position.
Mr Hockey has called for a full-scale review of the banking system which, he says,
needs increased competition and better regulation.
He has been under fire during a tough week in Canberra, during which Opposition
Leader Tony Abbott initially hesitated in his support for Mr Hockey's nine-point
plan.
Opposition resources spokesman Ian Macfarlane told Mr Hockey he wasn't up to the job
when the shadow treasurer called to confront him about moves in the party ranks and
in the media to destabilise Mr Hockey, a weekend media report said.
Mr Hockey declined to comment on the exchange.
"I'd rather not disclose private conversations," Mr Hockey told the Nine Network on
Sunday.
"I haven't spoken to him about banking specifically."
Amid speculation other Liberals were vying for Mr Hockey's job, opposition
frontbencher Greg Hunt said the party was unified on the issue of competition.
"The story that came out this week was wrong and incorrect, let me be absolutely
clear on that," Mr Hunt told Sky News on Sunday.
Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown said earlier this week the Greens "share his (Mr
Hockey's) view that an ACCC review of whether the banks are involved in collusive
price signalling on interest rates will do no harm".
Treasurer Wayne Swan said Mr Hockey's incompetence had been revealed, starting with
errors in his policy savings estimates during the election campaign.
"We've seen him out there repudiating the independence of the Reserve Bank over the
past week and a bit," Mr Swan told reporters in Brisbane.
"We've seen a so-called plan for the banking sector which amounts to nothing more
than a series of proposals which are either happening or in prospect of happening,
and with no original thought whatsoever."
Mr Swan said the quality of the Liberal Party's economic team was the worst seen in
generations.
The treasurer remarks came after ANZ boss Mike Smith attacked Mr Hockey's bank
reform ideas late last week, saying it was a shame the Liberals had prescribed to
pure populism, given the party's good economic management track record.
"It is not what we would call Liberal policy, it's not what we'd expect from the
Liberal Party, whose credentials in economic management of the country have been
extremely good," Mr Smith told Sky News on Sunday.
"You've got people like Malcolm Turnbull, who understand this stuff pretty well, so
it's a little bit out there."
Mr Hockey said on Sunday he had not called for interest rates to be controlled.
The shadow treasurer was attempting to dig himself out of a hole with his nine-point
plan after his initial comments, Mr Smith said.
"I heard him (Mr Hockey) say it. He said it pretty clearly," Mr Smith said.
Further economic reforms are necessary for the overall economy, however, Mr Smith said.
Mr Swan criticised a proposal for a flat tax rate, describing it as a Tony Abbott
thought bubble which would make the opposition leader unpopular.
"But this morning you've had Joe Hockey admit that Tony Abbott's flat tax thought
bubble has got hairs all over it.
"I'd say it's more like a fur coat, because his flat tax thought bubble basically
provides a significant slump to middle-income earners whilst providing someone like
Tony Abbott a tax cut of something like $4000 a year."