28th Jun 2018, 12:25 PM – Senate Motions - Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry - Funding and farmers

The majority voted against a motion, which means it failed.

Motion text

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry ('the Royal Commission') has received more than 6800 submissions,

(ii) the Royal Commission is underfunded and does not have adequate time to hear submissions from many regional farmers, and

(iii) as reported in TheAustralian on 26 June 2018, the Royal Commission's Letters Patent are drafted in a way that excludes receivers, administrators and insolvency professionals who often act unconscionably and unethically towards farmers; and

(b) calls on the government to:

(i) facilitate the amendment of the Letters Patent to include examination of the conduct of administrators, receivers, controllers, restructuring advisors, turnaround advisors, pre-insolvency advisors or insolvency practitioners, particularly when these entities act against farmers,

(ii) extend the final reporting period by 12 months to enable the Royal Commission to hear more submissions, and

(iii) increase funding to the Royal Commission to enable it to hear more submissions.