The final report of the Banking Royal Commission uncovers unconscionable, corrupt and potentially criminal behaviour in the banking and financial services sector. 

This is a dark day for Australian banking, and a terrible indictment on the greed in the industry.
 
We pay tribute to the victims of banking misconduct, the whistleblowers and the advocates for making this day happen.
 
We acknowledge it has been a long journey for individuals, families, small businesses and farmers.
 
The Royal Commission would not have happened without you. We will have a better, stronger and fairer banking system for all Australians because of you.
 
The final report is a comprehensive blueprint to clean up the industry, restore Australians’ trust in their banks, and put the interests of consumers first. 
 
The Royal Commission’s report shows that on too many occasions, the pursuit of profit was put ahead of people, ethics and the law. 
 
Scott Morrison and the Liberals should be condemned for voting against the Banking Royal Commission 26 times.
 
Mr Morrison called the Royal Commission “regrettable”, a “populist whinge”, delayed action for more than 600 days, and wants to give the big banks a $17 billion handout.
 
The Liberals have shown they cannot be trusted to clean up the banks. They are too out of touch and only stand up for the top end of town.
 
Unlike the Government, the Opposition accepts in-principle all of the recommendations in the report.
 
We will now give full and proper consideration to all the findings and recommendations through our usual processes. 
 
On our initial reading of the Government’s response, we are concerned that on too many issues, the Government does not accept the Royal Commission’s recommendation, does not propose adequate action, or delays action.  
 
There are several recommendations that require legislation to improve our banking system and ensure Australians aren’t ripped off, but Scott Morrison’s part-time parliament makes it very difficult to take immediate action to clean up the banks.
 
The Liberals tried to stop this Royal Commission from happening. They cannot be allowed to go soft on the banks, or go slow on implementing the reforms.
 
As Commissioner Hayne says in his final report: The financial services industry is too important to the economy of the nation to allow what has happened in the past to continue or to happen again.
 
As well as giving in-principle support to the recommendations of the Royal Commission, a Shorten Labor Government will:

• Crack down on corporate crime by increasing jail terms and financial penalties;
• Protect and reward whistleblowers through a Whistleblower Protection Authority and a Whistleblower Rewards Scheme; and
• Fund a dedicated special prosecutor to bring corporate criminals to justice.

 
Labor offers its sincere thanks to Commissioner Hayne and his dedicated team for their extraordinary efforts over the last 12 months.