Greens Treasury spokesperson, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, has reiterated calls for investment property to be treated as a financial product in the wake of the 4 Corners report on the state of the housing market in Australia.

Senator Whish-Wilson said, “Australia’s housing market is a debt-fuelled bubble driven primarily by tax breaks to investors. This is distorting the entire economy, creating enormous financial risk, and pushing the price of housing out of the reach of young people.

Greens Treasury spokesperson, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, responded today to the Commonwealth Bank’s record profit announcement.

“The announcement of a $10 billion profit by Commonwealth Bank is emblematic of what is wrong with the Australian economy.

“Despite having a record of bad behaviour as long as your arm, CBA is making record profits and paying their executives millions and millions while ordinary Australians watch their wages freeze and the cost of housing spiral out of control.

Greens Treasury spokesperson, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, has labelled the decision by the Commbank board to cut just the short-term cash bonus of Ian Narev and his colleagues, while leaving the remainder of their bonuses in-tact as simply 'stunning'.

Senator Whish-Wilson said, “The big bucks should stop with the Commonwealth Bank CEO and senior executives. Not one of them should get a single cent in bonuses, whether those bonuses are in shares or in cash, or whether they relate to this year’s performance or the last four years.

Greens spokesperson for Treasury, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, is calling on the Board of Commonwealth Bank to consider the position of Ian Narev today, and to cancel all senior executive bonuses in their meeting prior to the release of the annual financial results.

Senator Whish-Wilson said, “If the Board of Commbank wants to start to rebuild trust in their organisation they need to make sure that no senior executive with any oversight of this alleged money laundering scandal gets paid one single cent in bonuses this year.

Greens Treasury Spokesperson, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, says that Commbank money laundering scandal shows that the culture in the financial services sector is still suspect and only a Royal Commission or a Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry will return public confidence in this critical sector.

Senator Whish-Wilson said, “The behaviour of Commbank that emerged during the Senate Inquiry into ASIC was what sparked the first call for a Royal Commission. I am sick of being told by overpaid executives that everything is ok in this sector, when it is clearly not.