Senator John "Wacka" Williams would cross the floor for banking royal commission

Labor will push for a parliamentary vote on a banking royal commission, which is strongly opposed by the Coalition government.

Senator Williams will back the motion if he agrees with its terms of reference, regardless of his party’s stance.

"For seven years I've said we need a royal commission into white collar crime, not just banks, and I won’t make a hypocrite of myself while I’m in parliament,” Senator Williams said.

"There are ponzi financial schemes by the dodgy organisations in the financial industry, where people are getting blatantly ripped off."

Labor said it would offer him the chance to “talk the talk”, claiming that when push come to shove, he would side against the bill.

But Senator Williams said he had a track record of crossing the floor, unlike Labor senators.

“Mid-last year, the Greens put forward forward a motion for a royal commission into banking and I crossed the floor,” he said.

“Where were [Labor senators] Stephen Conroy and Sam Dastyari? Sitting on the opposite side of the room. My party allows you to cross the floor if you wish, it's not common, but there are no ramifications.”

Senator Williams said his vote wouldn't be necessary to get the bill through the senate, but would cross the floor on principle.

“You need 39 vote to pass the legislation through the senate,” he said.

“There are 26 Labor and nine Greens, which is 35. Pauline Hanson would support it, Jacqui Lambie and even the Nick Xenophon Team would too, so that is more than 39. So it will pass through the senate. The House of Representatives is where the action will be.”

He’s also pushing for a tribunal with tangible power to help victims of dodgy financial practices get justice, without forking out thousands in legal fees.