Comment: Senators Hanson, Williams and Co deliver as expected
The timing of the report by the Senate Select Committee on Lending to Primary Production Customers will no doubt raise eyebrows, and its share of outrage, coming just a few days after Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull acted on an open letter from the major banks and agreed to a Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry.And there are not many sitting days left in this calendar year to absorb the lengthy effort.Nevertheless the content of their report, published late yesterday, has been pitched in a way that will prove hard to ignore.It also does seem to pay attention to David Murray's criticism by not trying to over-regulate the banks; instead many of the recommendations have tended to put the need for change back onto the industry itself, either through the Australian Bankers Association's own code of practice, or by trying to shame banks into behaving the way the senators expected.A year is a long time in politics - and on the land.