The tension between banks and the political class took a tired old turn yesterday, with a tyro Treasurer questioning recent rate rises for borrowers and whining about the level of bank profits.Scott Morrison told Sydney radio yesterday that the return on equity for major banks was around 15 per cent, and "almost double what it is in Europe."Putting a view on the Westpac-led round of home loan rate rises (which all majors followed last week) Morrison said: "They make a commercial decision to actually put up the price for their customers. What I am saying is I am not going to give them a leave pass to do that, they can't blame the Government for their commercial decisions - that is their decision and they need to justify it to their customers."No, the government didn't make you do it … [banks] are in a position to actually pass these costs on."
Morrison encouraged "customers … to hold them to account and don't accept a line which says, 'oh the Government made us do it'. "No, the Government didn't make you do it, for the banks, they decided to put their profits and their return on equity. I mean the return on equity for these major banks is around about 15 per cent. That is almost double what it is in Europe."