https://archive.li/09laQ
OPINION: There are certain principles in law that are sacrosanct. One
of these is that the Government should not interfere with the
independence of the courts and in particular, should not use its power
to interfere with active litigation pending before the courts.
Alarmingly, National MP and Minister for Commerce and Consumer
Affairs, Scott Simpson, has recently tabled a Bill in Parliament that
runs afoul of these basic principles.
The Bill contains a retrospective law that would impact the rights of
some 170,000 customers and their litigation funders currently taking a
class action - that has been in train since 2021 - against two
Australian-owned banks, ANZ Bank New Zealand Limited and ASB Bank
Limited, and who reported profits of approximately $2.1 billion and
$1.4 billion last year alone respectively (and, whose parent companies
recorded profits of AUD$6.5 billion and AUD$9.5 billion respectively).
The reasons for tabling this Bill are not convincing and the
collateral consequences are grave. ___________________________________________________
The article finishes saying:
"If all of this sounds alarming, it should. In the current political
climate, we must remain vigilant that the government does not
interfere with the fundamental tenets of our justice system: the
viability of accrued legal rights, the certainty of the rule of law,
and the integrity and independence of our courts. In the end, these
all go to the very foundation of democracy itself.
The power to change law retrospectively should only be used in the
most extreme and exceptional circumstances. In my view, those
circumstances have not been sufficiently justified to date. In this
respect, the question remains: Why is the Minister,
metaphorically-speaking, bending over backwards to help two big
Australian banks in an active class action?"
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