Labor pushing for new credit laws

Labor wants to make it harder for dodgy credit offers to be sold at point of sale, as the opposition responds to the banking royal commission's recommendations.

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The federal opposition has drawn up legislation to respond to the banking royal commission. (AAP)

Buying a new car or TV on credit will soon be harder if Labor can get new laws through federal parliament this week.

The opposition wants to act immediately on the banking royal commission's recommendations to fix financial laws on dodgy credit providers.

They also want to ban grandfathered commissions for financial planners, and to stop the exploitation of indigenous people through the selling of funeral insurance.

But the coalition says Labor has barely addressed the royal commission, and is hiding from making a decision on mortgage broker commissions.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten says another six months could pass before the laws are changed unless the government agrees to them now.

"There's only three days of parliament, realistically, before August. That's too long, the victims have waited too long," he told reporters in Canberra on Tuesday.

Labor wants to remove point-of-sale exemptions for credit sales such as car loans, and remove an exemption that means the corporate regulator has no oversight of insurance claims.

That would make it tougher to get a car loan at a car dealership, or buy a TV on credit at a department store.

Banks would also be required to cooperate promptly with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority.

The royal commission recommended the changes be made as soon as possible, but the coalition government is planning to deal with them by 2021.

But Labor's shadow treasurer Chris Bowen would not say what the party planned to do about mortgage broker commissions, after the royal commission recommended they move to a user-pays model.

"The royal commission found that commissions are affecting which loans are taken and the size of those loans," he told a caucus meeting.

"There is a sensible way through that we are consulting on."

The coalition is concerned the shift to a user-pays model will give the big banks extra power, and effectively destroy the mortgage broking industry.

"The 26,000 people that are employed (as mortgage brokers) across the country - these are the people the Labor Party are going to leave for dead," Treasurer Josh Frydenberg told parliament.

Mr Frydenberg said the government was setting up a compensation scheme of last resort, and it was taking action on all the rest of the recommendations.

He said Labor's proposals only covered about six per cent of the inquiry's recommendations.


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Source: AAP


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Labor pushing for new credit laws | SBS News