Union flyer wrong: MP delivered bank inquiry

MAY 23, 2018: FLYERS being circulated in Mackay this week claiming that I tried to block a royal commission into the banks are misleading rubbish.In fact the truth is quite the opposite.I had listened to the stories of a lot of small business owners and farmers throughout North Queensland and beyond and their treatment at the hands of big banks was unethical and in some cases I believed criminal.The cold, calculated treatment by banks and other financial institutions was pushing people to breaking point and their stories strengthened my resolve to push for a royal commission.That’s why I organised briefings for other MPs and went so hard at the end of last year on this issue.History will show that I, along with a small number of Nationals MPs, took a stance that proved to be successful.During the months before the royal commission was called I worked with Ross Waraker, the head of the White Collar Crime Reform group who confirms this.“Crossing the floor is serious business and George was not going to do that unless he was satisfied there was a genuine problem.  But when push came to shove, he put everything behind it.  He set up a website to further test the extent of the banking misconduct problem. I believe that galvanised his view. He got the numbers he needed from within the Nationals and forced it on,” Mr Waraker said.“In light of the results of the Royal Commission already, I think George's early stance, against the political views of the day, should be applauded.   Nobody can deny he played a key role in the establishment of the banking royal commission,” he said.Comments from journalists and commentators:ABC - David Lipson – ABC – December 1, 2017 : “On the afternoon of September 13, in Committee Room 1R2 at Parliament House in Canberra, a Powerpoint presentation was firing up. Renegade Nationals MP George Christensen had invited a small group of his Coalition colleagues for a special presentation on the banks. … Over the course of an hour or so, the politicians were methodically taken through a short history of banking behaviour since the Global Financial Crisis. … Perhaps enough Coalition MPs could be convinced, if it came to it, to team up with Labor and the Greens on the floor of Parliament to force a commission of inquiry into the banks. By this week, that vague possibility had become a certainty. With Mr Christensen and Mr O'Brien willing to cross the floor to support fellow Queenslander, senator Barry O'Sullivan's bill, an inquiry was going to happen one way or another. As a result, we now have the Prime Minister's "regrettable" royal commission.”  The Conversation – Michelle Grattan – April 19, 2018: “In fact, the government was forced to drop its resistance when Nationals rebels threatened to revolt. Take a bow, Queensland Nationals backbenchers Barry O'Sullivan, George Christensen and Llew O'Brien. You did everyone a service.”  Daily Telegraph – Sharri Markson – April 20, 2018: “They were facing a backbench revolt led by Nationals MP George Christensen over the issue at a time when the Coalition’s numbers inParliament were down as a result of the dual citizenship crisis…. In effect, it was forced on the Turnbull government by the renegade George Christensen.”