WITH the government increasing resources and funding to banking watchdog Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce says there is no need for a royal commission into the industry.
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Labor says if it comes to power in the upcoming election, it will launch a royal commission into the banking industry.
However, Mr Joyce said ASIC already had more powers than a royal commission.
ASIC is like the standing royal commission, with the powers to prosecute,” the New England MP said.
“In this instance a royal commission only has the powers of investigation and discovery of evidence – prosecution is not held by the royal commission.
“ASIC does have the powers of prosecution. There is no power that a royal commission would have that ASIC couldn’t start right now – except ASIC can go the next step, it can actually prosecute you.”
Mr Joyce said the government had started the process to invest greater resources into ASIC more than six months before Labor made its royal commission announcement.
“This was in the works long before Mr Shorten decided to jump on the band wagon and babble out a royal commission because it was the first two words that came to his mind,” Mr Joyce said.
“They always say a royal commission, because they believe a royal commission can paint your house, a royal commission can change the tyres on your care, it will change the oil and it will make your baby stop crying at night.
“Why don’t we go with the people that do the prosecution, rather than the ones that just do the investigation?”
