Question:

The legislation that governs banking (Basel II) is just legislation. If you wanted a new Commonwealth Bank, all you need is more legislation - an act to make the new bank immediately solvent, with a time delay, based on government edict. As you said, the big 4 have a hundred year head start - but so what. We are the Australian people. We are the Australian government. We can do whatever we want. From now on, all money received by government (fines, tax etc) can go into the new bank. Hey presto! Immediate capital. Superannuation? Pay it straight into the new bank. Hey presto! Immediate capital. Its not that hard. The hard bit is the will to do it, to educate the public, and to overcome the vultures that preside over the system, not unlike a fox supervising a chicken coop.

Answer:

The legislation that governs banking (Basel II) is just legislation.

Basel I, II and now III, are "accords" and not legislation. These accords are agreements between banks as to standards that they will follow. These accords are drafted under the auspices of the Bank of International Settlements. No government provides any input, and no government ever votes on an accord or ever ratifies an accord. These accords are not legislation.

If you wanted a new Commonwealth bank, all you need is more legislation.

The ASP does not want a "new Commonwealth Bank" for the sake of having a state bank - we want an honest money system. A new Commonwealth Bank is only a partial solution to our current problems, and a very inelegant one at best. It merely perpetuates our "dishonest system", with a pay-off to the state of - "now you too can also have a piece of the dishonest action".

True - legislation is what you need, if you wanted a new Commonwealth Bank. The ASP will however use legislation to create an honest money system.

As you said, the big 4 have a hundred year head start - but so what.

Ever heard to the proverb "The first to market makes the rules". Anyone who thinks that lots of money can somehow bring the major players to heel on a rigged playing field is truly naive. Banks have spent hundreds of millions of dollars in cultivating market share and shaping regulations to their advantage. Any new entrant will be overburdened trying to meet the regulations of The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, let alone building the required physical infrastructure of systems, branches, head-office, staff etc.

We are the Australian government. We can do whatever we want. From now on, all money received by government (fines, tax etc) can go into the new bank. Hey presto! Immediate capital.

The ASP will not do "whatever we want". The ASP will only act in the interest of the people of Australia, and taking all "money received" (i.e. taxes paid by hard working Australians) to open up a new bank with a promise of competing against private industry ----- is NOT what government is about.

Superannuation? Pay it straight into the new bank. Hey presto! Immediate capital. Its not that hard.

Superannuation is money that belongs to individuals - after they have met their obligation to their own government and paid their taxes. Superannuation does not belong to the government. Appropriating such money, or even directing it into specific investments is theft - plain and simple. The ASP will never tell people where to invest their after-tax money.

The hard bit is the will to do it, to educate the public, and to overcome the vultures that preside over the system, not unlike a fox supervising a chicken coop.

We agree - that educating the populous is a major obstacle. The ASP believes that calling for a new Commonwealth Bank is basically a misdiagnosis of our current problem. Currently, we have a "money as debt" system, which binds us collectively into debt for perpetuity. The ASP wants a "debt free" money system, where we as Australians do not borrow our medium of exchange from private corporations - but have our sovereign government issue the national currency and our medium of exchange for the benefit of all people.

Please following the various links in our Resources - Money & Banking section, and learn about these two types of systems. The one is honest, and the other is dishonest.