At the end of Day 69 of the royal commission, Commissioner Hayne was interrupted from closing remarks by a heckler in the audience.
“Mr Hayne what about the complaint system. Why is this not being reviewed. This is as corrupt as many other areas in this,” he said.
The unknown man went on to say that it was not being reviewed due to a “corrupt Prime Minister who did not want this to happen” before saying the work of the commission would not be recognised.
“Unfortunately, the good work you people have done will not be recognised. I’m telling you. It’s rotten,” he said.
It was a dramatic end to a year-long commission into misconduct in the financial services industry, which, as Ms Orr went on to say, had endured over 68 long days of hearings.
“Over the course of those 68 days, many of which were long days, we have heard evidence from 134 witnesses, some of whom gave evidence more than once. We have tendered almost 400 witness statements and we have tendered more than 6,500 exhibits, including the exhibits to those witness statements,” she said.
In 68 days, the commission heard that CBA was unaware that it was being used by criminal syndicates to launder cash and during which the Treasurer of Australia called for heads to roll at the major bank.
NAB’s chief executive admitted he was ashamed of its conduct and its habit of negotiating with ASIC had led to dysfunction within the group.
ANZ admitted its adviser monitoring was unacceptable and had removed sales targets for its advisers due to scrutiny from the commission.
Westpac told the commission that its advice had failed and that the bank had lost its appetite for wealth management.
There were other issues raised during the rounds with ASIC and APRA both accused of doing too little, too late and being too cozy with the banks.
Ms Orr concluded the day by acknowledging that the commission had heard from major financial institutions, their chief executives, their regulators and the people that they serve.
“I would particularly like to thank this last group of witnesses, the consumers. Many of them travelled long distances and gave evidence about their private financial affairs in a very public forum. I know that they did not always find that easy, but their willingness to give evidence about their experiences has greatly assisted the work of the Commission,” she said.
Unlike other rounds there was no new evidence explored in round seven and Ms Orr said for that reason there would not be a process to make further submissions considering this round.
“Instead, we anticipate that the matters raised over the past two weeks will play a role in informing the recommendations that you make in your final report,” she said.
The final report of the royal commission is due in February 2019 and it remains to be seen what government and regulatory response will follow.
