Ken Henry’s estimates grilling: senatorial wheel spinning
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Despite sending most of its heaviest hitters into this morning’s Economics Committee Estimates hearing, the Coalition came up empty handed in its “grilling” of Treasury Secretary Ken Henry. The grilling turned out to have all the heat of a cosy fireside chat. The attempt to find some scintilla of difference between the Reserve Bank, the Treasury and the Government on the nature of the bank guarantee came to nothing, as Henry affirmed that he and Glenn Stevens were “of one mind” on the issue of an unlimited guarantee two weekends ago and that the conversation recounted by the Prime Minister yesterday had indeed occurred. The Coalition packed the committee with Senators Coonan, Eggleston, Brandis, Fifield, Ronaldson, Abetz, Parry and Bushby. Barnaby Joyce showed up as well, and by the time Ron Boswell, fresh from his stoush with Bill Heffernan – eminently resistible force meets immoveable object – rolled in to join the likes of Nick Xenophon and, later, Bob Brown, there were senators squeezed in right round the table. Labor sent along Doug Cameron. Apt, perhaps – at the current rate, Cameron’s paleolithic economic views will be back in fashion by the end of the year. Stephen Conroy, representing Wayne Swan, was there first, and cut rather a lonely figure playing with his Blackberry, until Treasury officials joined him at the last moment followed, eventually, by Henry himself. Treasury Dep Sec David Gruen read a fascinating opening statement – if you’re fascinated by such things — on the current economic environment and the pointlessness of trying to produce meaningful and useful forecasts during a crisis of unprecedented size and speed. This confirmed what we’d previously heard from Laura Tingle in The AFR – that there were no Treasury forecasts – not even preliminary ones – that formed the basis of the Government’s bank guarantee and economic stimulus measures. Instead, Gruen explained, it was better to consider the likely risks to growth rather than wasting time trying to churn out forecasts that didn’t add anything useful to our understanding of the situation. But bugger all that, the Coalition Senators wanted to get onto the point-scoring. Helen Coonan and Eric Abetz, at his officious best, led the charge, but that came a cropper against Henry, who seemed tired – surprisingly – and irritable at having to repeat himself every time a different combination of words was tried on him. Stephen Conroy tried to run some interference by pointing out that the entire debate was actually about what had occurred between officials and ministers, which in normal Estimates circumstances – despite whatever strange views Senate Clerk Harry Evans might harbour – is out of bounds, but Henry declared himself eager to make an exception and clear the matter up. Eventually, Rudd and his officials might wonder at the wisdom of so readily dragging Cabinet discussions into the open for the sake of a minor political grassfire, but that can wait. Coonan and Abetz weren’t helped by Barnaby Joyce jumping in to shift the discussion in another direction but even under the best of circumstances they would have been on a hiding to nothing. Eventually Abetz tried to get some table-banging action going over the fabricated issue of whether the Government has misled when it said the guarantee would be unlimited when in fact a cap was being considered. Even his thumps on the table lacked enthusiasm, however. “Far be it from me to offend anyone, and especially you Senator,” Henry began drily, “ but there’s been some misunderstanding about the term ‘cap’.” He went on to explain the difference between a cap on the guarantee and a cap at which point deposits would be treated as wholesale lending and thus attract a cost to access the guarantee. Abetz looked like Henry was speaking to him in Swahili. His Coalition colleagues, furious at failing to get anywhere, then tried to ping Henry for refusing to answer questions when he declined to detail his discussions with the Reserve Bank, and then started chasing their tails on what advice he had provided on refusing to answer questions. It costs a lot for senators and senior officials to sit around and spin their wheels like this. |
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15 Comments
It appears the whole Liberal Opposition is spinning its wheels on this issue.
Malcolm Turnbull just gave a weak performance on tonight’s 7.30 Report. His forced grin at the end of the interview said it all.
While critical of the Government & Treasury, he couldn’t answer Kerry O’Brien when asked what the Libs policy.
A tad embarassing really when, as O’Brien pointed out, the Libs had fully endorsed Labor’s policy only a week ago.
Careful Brendan….I mean Malcolm….
I tried to send this to Fran Kelly ‘breakfast’ at Radio National but found it too hard and fraudulent.
When will media people become accountable to use their brains?
I heard the Government announce guarantees of BANK deposits.
The media and opposition beat up goes on and on but with the word BANK dropped and deposits focussed on. The only sane thing is to know that the deposit guarantees don’t include any deposits your grandmother made with you Fran. Our banker opposition leader doesn’t know the difference OR does and has his assistants running with the dishonesty.
The NON-BANK banks which were so knowledgably named in recent weeks (and by Crikey the other day) have other legal protective devises that banks don’t have like simple freezing of withdrawals.
Because media who know stuff all about banking law don’t find out because they have the celebrity banker Turnbull to ask (too easy) a lot of mis-information is circulating. He is not a banker by anyone’s serious definition.
Ray, is it you Andrew Bolt?
WHO REMEMBERS
When Henry tried to advise his previous political boss (Costello) on the costs the water plan the then government was hatching up Costello said “Ken Henry doesn’t know about water he only knows about treasury”.
Does the media not know how to pick a smart man from a dope?
If there is no memory of this event/comment in media it becomes a powerful piece of evidence as to the psychology traps media people much less ordinary people can suffer or fall into leaving generalised dumbing in its wake.
Can i please tell the liberal senatos in my state they do not represent me.
This family only cares that our families money is safe.
Turnbull is a failure as a leader as he is not or cannot put himself in the shoes of us ordinary people.
“That doesn’t have a ring of truth to it?”
Erica Betz should be forced to apologise for suggesting Ken Henry is a liar?
Marilyn’s spot on about Eric ‘As Bad as It Gets’ Abetz.
This Apple Isle drop kick continues to be a big plus for the Labor Party in the Senate. His lack of political judgement is highlighted each time he trots out the “golden years of the Howard Government’ line. I wonder what Turnbull’s office say privately each time he gives the line a run in public.
I watched his cringingly bad performance at today’s Committee hearing…talk about theoretical influence
beyond one’s intelligence.
I too watched Turnbull’s performance on 7.30 Report, and it was woeful, embarrassing and humiliating for him. He simply could not bring himself to admit that he had made a mistake. When asked what he would have done, he did what his party always do - just avoided giving an alternative. They carp, whine and criticise, but never have an alternative to the government’s action(s). The problem with the Coalition is that they simply cannot get over the last election loss and move on. Instead of developing policies, they rely on the same old fear, scare and smear tactics that helped them lose the last election. When will they learn that, as the Opposition, they are the alternative government and sooner or later they are going to need POLICIES to win over the electorate. If they spent half as much time developing clear, consistent, coherent policies as they do lobbying the Canberra press gallery for air time with silly beatups, they might stand a chance. Turnbull may be their new leader, but he, like his predecessor, flip-flop and flounder from one beatup headline to the next. Turnbull and the laughable Julie Bishop, Australia’s answer to Sarah Palin, had better lift their games if they are to salvage any credibility at all, otherwise at this rate, the Coalition will “never, ever” achieve government again. Personally, that would suit me just fine!
A bit of clear thinking about why the Government sgould guarantee some depositors and not other is required. The employer push during the 80’s and early 90’s to have employees paid by EFT rather than the folding stuff has coerced all employees (the majority of the population) into having their often modest incomes placed into the coffers of the big 4 and the soon to be swallowed up, minor banks and credit unions. There are no capital gains to be had with these accounts, just a slight margin above inflation plus a mountain of fees. With no investment gain through these accounts why should there be the prospect of loss. If the rich wish to put their money in to the higher yielding accounts with, CMT’s, mortgage funds or ostriches then they do this with the knowledge of the risk and the rewards for the risk. If people are taking their money out of these funds now because the financial system has exposed itself for what it is, then bad luck. Lucjk is what gambling is all about. The well paid of CEO’s and their almost equally paid court jesters of these organisations need to demonstrate the great value their investments provide not go bleating to the government for some more corporate welfare. maybe the Government should guarantee that the stock market nevert goes down. My SMF would love that!
Quite frankly this seems extraordinary. Stevens recommended unlimited guarantee on deposits?
Eric Abetz had it right……it does not have the ring of truth.
Rudd passed the buck to Henry who disdainfully at times yesterday and seemingly without shame said he and Stevens “were as one” in recommending unlimited guarantees. The wording of Stevens speech Tuesday was most interesting. We now need to hear unequivocally from Stevens.
It covers none of these supposed intelligent and informed ‘individuals’ in glory and I suspect the ‘insurance’ fix mooted will be a fiasco coming from the self same clowns
I watched the entire sorry senate debacle this morning and the antics of Senators Coonan and Abetz were quite frankly a disgrace. This was not a serious attempt to obtain facts, that was finished with when Ken Henry demolished the Australian article. No this was a major attempt at political ambush on one of the most highly respected persons advising the Government. Not only was the behaviour of the Coaltion Senators unworthy of them it was an attempt to show the Treasury Secretary as a liar, as one who does not tell the truth. As a follow up to the derision of Henry by the would be smart alec Turnbull yesterday, who demanded his resignation in the House, this performance by Coonan and Abetz brought no credit on them at all. Quite rightly Treasurer Swan asked for apologies, none were forth coming. It hasn’t taken long for the Coalition to revert to their dirty tricks of pre election time last year. It brought them no credit then, today will equally be seen by the majority of Australians as an attempt to discredit a man who has done nothing wrong. The Australian newspaper stands condemned as well for its discredited articles on the subject.
Abetz is one of the biggest morons in the senate and he needs to be gagged. Even if it is just so we don’t have to listen to his excrutiatingly dreadful voice.
He might have some use in the US elections though - the Democrats could use him to point out how bloody irritating Sarah Palin would be after years and years of listening to her dreadful voice.
It is fascinating that Treasury considers it pointless to provide meaningful forecasts during an economic crisis of unprecedented size and speed. It is even more fascinating that Treasury is wasting its time in being involved in forecasting the economic impact of climate change and of allegedly remedial carbon taxing, when there is no convincing scientific evidence to substantiate the hypothesis that greenhouse gases are the prime driver of global warming, and consequently, when there are no validated models available to do the forecasting.
I just read the SMH and stand corrected. It now even has less of a ‘ring of truth’ (if that were possible):
“Dr Henry told a Senate estimates committee that both he and the Reserve Bank governor, Glenn Stevens, considered the potential for a flight of capital from the excluded banks as a “detail” to be addressed after the guarantee scheme was announced, not before.
Dr Henry said the terms “concern” or “reservation” were too strong to describe the potential problem and he and Mr Stevens were of “one mind” as they recommended an unlimited guarantee on deposits.”
Bernard you seem to know a bit about this, and I, frankly, have no idea. What’s the purpose of these Estimates Committees? Have you considered a ‘Politics for Dummies’ page somewhere on Crikey? Whitepapers, estimates committees, some people probably don’t understand qhat question time is for either (aside from questions).
EB