ANZ not accommodating a branch of the DLP
Amid the gravity of the first day of trial hearings in the ANZ fees test case there were a few moments of light relief in the court.The first came in the morning session when the lead counsel for the plaintiffs, Michael Lee SC, explained to the bench that the "DLP system" in operation at ANZ was shorthand for "Direct Loan Repayment" not the "Democratic Labor Party".Lee's clarification drew the attention of journalists and a few ANZ suits to the presence of Bob Santamaria seated in the third row of the gallery. Santamaria - ANZ's group general counsel and company secretary - is the son of former Democratic Labor Party warrior, BA Santamaria.The light moment of the afternoon session occurred during a heated discussion between the legal eagles and Justice Gordon over a procedural matter relating to ANZ counsel, Alan Archibald QC's questioning of the lead plaintiff, Lucio Paciocco.Despite participating in the class action against the ANZ, Paciocco remains a loyal customer of the bank.Gordon told Archibald to allow the witness to "run his case" after Mr Lee objected to one of Archibald's questions.Gordon warned Mr Archibald that Mr Paciocco's option was to close his accounts with the bank.GORDON: His option is he closes his account with you.ARCHIBALD: Well, we don't want that of course, your Honour. YourHonour… GORDON: Well, of course you don't want that. So I don't think we should -I'm sure you don't want that.As an ANZ personal customer, Paciocco told the court he has two MasterCards, a cheque account, a home loan with an equity manager account and two savings accounts. His business also has an ANZ cheque account.