Page 557 - Week 02 - Thursday, 25 February 1993
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I think it will be wonderful for the people who are of Croatian descent to be able to have contact, to know more about their families back in Croatia and what is going on there in the former Yugoslavia as we knew it. How terrible it was. They will also be able to have contact with their culture and their language, and with many other things that go with an embassy opening in Canberra. It is also very good to see embassies opening in Canberra. They too bring employment, believe it or not, because they employ people from outside their own country to work in the embassies. I would like to welcome them and to congratulate the Australian-Croatian community on having an embassy now representing them here.
State Bank of New South Wales
MR STEVENSON (4.40): Madam Speaker, I rise to talk about victims of the State Bank of New South Wales. A few weeks ago there was a small ad in the Canberra Times on a Saturday morning which mentioned that there would be a public meeting at which victims of the State Bank of New South Wales would be able to join together to gain some support against actions that had been taken by the State Bank. On a Sunday evening in Tuggeranong some 70 people met. There were representatives of the State Bank from Sydney, and one from Canberra. A week later there was a similar meeting held by the same group in Sydney, and I believe that some 200 people attended.
At that meeting representatives of the State Bank of New South Wales said that they would place a one-month, or 30-day, moratorium on actions against their victims. They used the word "clients". These are foreclosures, and legal actions, existing and proposed. I have a copy of a news release from the bank that indicates the details of that 30-day moratorium. I also have just received a copy of a letter wherein they say, in one particular client's case, that they will ignore the moratorium. In other words, it is not a moratorium; they have broken their word after giving it, obviously after some detailed thought at the very highest levels of administration within the State Bank of New South Wales. I know that they would prefer that the organisation that was formed, called Victims of the State Bank of New South Wales, remove the word "victims". When you hear the truly tragic cases, the dozens of cases, and what has happened to people because of the practices and operations of the State Bank of New South Wales, you can well understand why their group is titled "Victims of the State Bank of New South Wales".
It is clear to me that the State Bank has long overstepped moral bounds. It also appears clear to me that in a number of cases they have overstepped legal bounds. It is obvious, because of the evidence that I have, that they have broken a promise that they gave not to continue action against their clients. I would like to go into this matter in a more detailed way, and I intend to do so as soon as we meet again. I think it is about time. I know that members must be as concerned as I am, because it is becoming common that everybody knows a banking story. When I say that, I mean that they know of a story of someone who has been well and truly thumped by a bank. They have long gone past the stage where they should be allowed to continue the practices that they operate. I think it is something that we should certainly look at in the near future.
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