Banking royal commission: executives off the hook, say unions

Unions leaders have lashed out at the royal commission report, saying it lets bank executives off the hook.

ACTU president Michele O'Neil. Picture: Glenn Hunt

Unions leaders have lashed out at the royal commission report, saying it lets bank executives off the hook.

ACTU president Michele O’Neil said: “The report is wholly inadequate and fails to get to the core of the issues in the banking sector and the insatiable greed of the banks, and lets those responsible — the bank executives — off the hook.”

In a video posted to Twitter, the ACTU said the report failed to deliver justice because it lacked “direct referral of any criminal prosecution or civil prosecutions”.

The union also said the report was a failure for not recommending to “kick banks out of super”, and “does nothing to change the sales-driven culture in banks”.

“If a working person stole from their employer, the police would be called and they’d lose their job. But if a bank executive oversees large-scale theft of customers, it seems they’re let off the hook,” the ACTU tweeted.

“Working people cried out for this Banking royal commission. The Coalition government has failed them by providing insufficient time & resources to fully investigate the extent of wrongdoing by senior finance executives.”

Union-backed industry super funds accused the government of attacking them after super was included in the banking royal commission.

The union movement was vocal during the royal commission, criticising the commission for not moving to ensure banks could not pursue legal action against whistleblowers.