Fire

The tenth anniversary of the 2009 Black Saturday fires.

I remember this day vividly. I was well and truly safe and far away from the fire areas. The heat outside was unbearable; I closed all the windows, drew the curtains and sat with the fan on, keeping cool.

Throughout the day the local ABC radio station broadcast warnings and updated fire situations. A roll call of Victorian place names, those areas under threat issued from the radio; some names were familiar and others were totally unknown.

This year, on the tenth anniversary, I listened to two people speaking of their experiences on that day. Carol Matthew’s son Sam was at their home in St Andrew’s, speaking to his mother on the phone; telling her the fire which started a short time beforehand in the East Kilmore area, when a power line sparked the fire, was almost on top of their house. As they were speaking the windows in the house exploded and the conversation ended.

The identification of Sam’s body and the retrieval process was a protracted and traumatic process. Their daughter, who was not at the house when the fire front came through, lost all her possessions and as a 19-year-old girl, had to deal not only with losing her brother but having nothing which linked their past.

After the fire, in spite of her personal loss – or maybe because of it – Carol Mathews appeared as witness, along with many other people, at the Bushfire Royal Commission as well as becoming the lead plaintiff in a class action brought against companies seen to be responsible for the Kilmore East fire and the damage sustained. After months of a lengthy and complex negotiation process a settlement was reached in this case. Recently Carol has been involved in sourcing funding for an Immersive Bushfire Trailer, designed to give people an experience of how a severe fire might be experienced.

The other person who spoke about her experience on that day was Ella Holcombe, whose parents died in the fire at Kinglake.

Ella was speaking to her mother on the phone and will always remember her mother’s final terrified words “We’re in really big trouble”. Ella and her twin brothers left Melbourne headed for Kinglake but were stopped at Whittlesea by police roadblocks. Along with a great crowd of people gathered there, they watched the mountains ridges ablaze with fire. Information was hard to come by and they returned to their city home and spent the next two days alternating between hope and despair.

Consequently, when the police came to their city house with the devastating news of the death of their parents, they were not altogether surprised.

In the intervening years the Holcombe children (now young adults) have retained the Kinglake property. Ella has written a children’s book, The House on the Mountain, which drew on her childhood experience and Black Saturday. After obtaining a building permit which has to be renewed on a regular basis, a new home is now being constructed.

Looking forward, the new house will be built and they will spend time up there among the trees still remaining and the memories of their wonderful childhood days.

Aftermath of Kinglake fires 2009

Banking Royal Commission

Commissioner Kenneth Hayne

The Royal Commission Report into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services in this country was handed down today.

The terms of reference commenced by telling interested parties that Australia has a systemically strong and stable banking system, superannuation and financial services industry, with the world’s best prudential regulation and oversight.

At this point you might be asking why we had to have a Royal Commission into the banking industry if the above paragraph was correct. 

After years of complaints from customers about extortionate bank fees and charges, whistle-blowers, consumer groups and opposition political parties, the time arrived when it was no longer possible to ignore the situation.  The current government adopted a stalling process for a long time, claiming an enquiry was not needed. Eventually they were forced to capitulate.

During the hearing proceedings, Kenneth Hayne, a former High Court judge, together with his assistants, closely questioned the various representatives of the banking and finance industries.  The people questioned were from the top of the hierarchy tree in their organisations.

There were nervous people, some red faces, some set jaws and from time to time, following embarrassing revelations of financial misconduct, immediate board resignations took place. One banking CEO stood apart from the others; his belligerent and dismissive attitude, punctuated by scornful replies and much muttering under his breath, indicated a man who considered himself above all this petty questioning. Or maybe a man caught with his hand in the till, so to speak.

In the final wash up of the Royal Commission, a number of malpractices came to light.

Mortgages, when examined, showed considerable lack of ability on the part of bank officers to follow procedures. Maybe there weren’t any procedures to follow? People were lent money without their living expenses being verified and, in some cases, only a one-line summary of expenses were required. One lending institution, seeing which way the wind might blow, changed their loan requirements before the Commission and loan applicants now have twelve expenses categories to complete; this new approach found some loan applicants wanting and loans were refused.

The other big money spinner for financial advisers was the practice of charging fees for financial advice, which was never given.  When the customers realised what was happening and asked for reimbursement, they waited years for their money to be reimbursed.

This financial chicanery also extended to dead people. In one jaw-dropping revelation it was found a dead client was charged for financial advice for over a decade. You might wonder how this came about; it’s possible when large sums of money are sitting about accumulating more wealth, that no one pays much attention to the detail. In fact, you could say, as happened in one case, that a matter of less than $70 per month over two years is hardly a matter of concern. Handy extra pocket money (money pocketed at the expense of another) for the advisor. However, when the cost to the ‘big four’ banks is set at well over $1 billion in remediation it is no small matter after all.

Board members and heads of financial institutions were called out on the behaviour of their companies; APRA the regulator, came in for its share of criticism and finally the whole sorry mess drew to a close.

When the final report was issued, the nearly 1000-page report made 76 recommendations and 24 referrals for further action.  Organisations within the industry made their appraisals and commented on the implications of the report. Culture within the banking organisations, governance, the regulators, executive remuneration, professional advice, employee misconduct, insurance, banking and superannuation were commented on and actions which might be taken were considered.

The burning question is, if and when any of these recommendations will be actioned.  Very conveniently a Federal election is in the offing within the next few months; the government will go into caretaker mode and all political action will centre around who will govern in the next parliament.

As for the report, it may well be sitting gathering dust on a shelf while the relevant parties in the next government decide whether to take any action or whether it is all just too hard and given enough time it will all simply fade away.