Mr. Tim Molan:

Further to Senator Conway-Walsh's question, it is not simply about what credit unions do and do not do. There is a case for addressing the whole area of moneylending. It does not just involve the area of rates, but the area of practice. For those of us who work with people in many of the communities that are most blighted by this issue, it seems that it is open season on the consumer. There is virtually no effective protection for people. For instance, the consumer protection code is not thought of or operated next, nigh or near moneylending. One of the serious disadvantages and causes of reluctance in credit unions is that the moneylender can swan back in the next week. Some of their mechanisms of persuasion and collection are certainly not for the faint-hearted. We can talk about and address issues such as rates all we want but unless there is a more holistic approach to this whole area from a legislative, consumer, and regulatory point of view, we will still be sitting around here in two or three years' time asking the same questions and wondering why sufficient progress is not being made. The message is that a more holistic approach must be taken.