Don’t let open banking close the door on action to address excess profit

Open banking is fine but the simplest and most effective way to address record bank profits is to tax them fairly to provide relief to families struggling to get by.

“While the Greens support any action that stops banks ripping people off, the timing of this announcement does feel strange – especially when the simplest and quickest solution is right there on the table: tax excess profit and use the money help everyone make ends meet,” says the Green Party’s consumer affairs spokesperson Ricardo Menéndez March.

“It was good to hear the Prime Minister speak so frankly about the problem of record bank profits on Monday. But the Government is once again tinkering at the edges, rather than getting to the heart of the problem.

“There is no doubt that open banking will help stop banks ripping off struggling customers. Two years ago, responding to plans for a consumer data right, the Greens highlighted the need for greater transparency and regulation for this exact reason.

“But we are in a unique situation right now that needs bold solutions.

“When banks - and other large corporations - can generate record profits from a set of circumstances they did nothing to bring about; when thousands of families are forced at the same time to make impossible choices about whether to pay the bills or put food on the table, we need to act.

“The banking system is simply not equipped to put people before profit. The Government needs to step in and an excess profit tax is the quickest and easiest way to start.

“As my colleague Julie Anne Genter has been saying, an excess profits tax is the simplest and most effective way to ensure large corporations pay their fair share to help people who are struggling to pay rents and mortgages, or put food on the table,” says Ricardo Menéndez March.

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