“Labour MPs have shamefully blocked the Finance and Expenditure Committee from holding an inquiry into the Labour Government’s regulation of the banking sector,” says ACT’s Associate Finance spokesperson Damien Smith.

“Labour MPs on the committee described it as a “Clayton’s Inquiry”, saying that they had no faith in the committee to do it properly. The assertion that the Finance and Expenditure Select Committee isn’t capable of conducting an inquiry into the banking sector shows that Labour doesn’t trust Parliament, and by extension the people who elect it.

“What do they think taxpayers are paying them to do? Inquiries such as this are very much the job of elected officials.

“In Labour’s world unelected consultants and bureaucrats are the experts on everything and Members of Parliaments just exist to action their advice. If more advice is needed, maybe it should be supporting the people’s elected representatives in Parliament?

“Government regulation has a major influence on how banks operate. If Government taxes banks more, they will have to get the money from their customers. If Government regulates banks more, they will have to pass compliance costs on to their customers. If Government regulations reduce competition in banking, customers will pay more for a limited range of options. None of this is complicated, but Labour is sure doing its best to make it so.

“Labour MPs on the committee should do the job they have been elected to do.”

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