Banks To Face A Parliamentary Grilling (Most Voters Want A Royal Commission, Though)

A three-day parliamentary inquiry into the banking sector is currently underway, however the majority of voters are still backing a royal commission.

Present at the inquiries will be chief executives from Australia's four biggest banks: Commonwealth, Westpac, ANZ and NAB.

According to The Sydney Morning Herald, banking chiefs are expecting uncomfortable questions on a variety of topics; including their record-breaking profits, their failure to pass on Reserve Bank rate cuts, scandals in life-insurance and financial-advice divisions.

In a recent survey reported in The Guardian and conducted by the The Australia Institute, it was revealed that 68 per cent of people support a royal commission into banking.

Just over half of the respondents thought, Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull was protecting banks by not calling for a royal commission. The survey was completed by 1,400 people.

"We'll only get about 20 mins each to question the bank execs. I've got 2 days of questions" - @MThistlethwaite. https://t.co/Y3qFNXmlMD

— 7 News Sydney (@7NewsSydney) October 3, 2016

"Many of the scandals in the banking industry are continuing, the unethical behaviour continues," said Labor's Matt Thistlewaite, deputy chair of the inquiry committee.

He adds, "Each MP is only going to get 20 minutes and I've got two days worth of questions that I could ask on behalf of the Australian public."

Critics are condemning the cultural failures of the banking industry, saying that they have fallen out of line with community expectations.

Calls for a royal commission into the banking sector will continue to lurk, given the vast degree of public support. Not to mention, the majority of the senate - including Labor, the Greens, Xenophon and One Nation - are also in support of a royal commission.

However, Malcolm Turnbull is convinced that a parliamentary inquiry will have sufficient power to trigger "ongoing, permanent cultural change".

These hearings are expected to continue for several years in an effort to ensure sustainable accountability and transparency.

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