'It's way too soft': Father-of-five who lost the family farm to the bank after drought slams royal commission report and demands the banks pay compensation to victims
- Bill Mott and his family lost their farm to the bank after a series of poor seasons
- Mr Mott attended all but one of the banking royal commission's hearings
- His verdict is the commission's report was 'way too soft' and 20 years too late
- Commission wants banks to stop charging default interest during drought
- Mr Mott said banks should pay compensation to rip off victims
Father-of-five Bill Mott and family lost their Queensland farm after a series of poor seasons and drought
A farmer who lost it all to the National Australia Bank after a drought has slammed the royal commission report as 'way too soft' and its proposals as 'twenty years too late'.
Father-of-five Bill Mott and his family lost their $22 million estate in Meanderra, in Queensland's Western Downs region, to the bank in 2014, following several poor seasons.
The crop and cattle farmer attended all but one of royal commissioner Kenneth Hayne's hearings and this week scoured the report in detail to see what Mr Hayne had to offer farmers. He walked away disappointed.
'It was way too soft and no where near deep enough so I'm very disappointed with the outcome,' Mr Mott said.
'I think I'm going to be even more disappointed with the way the government's going to deal with it.'
Criminal charges should have been laid and 'examples made', he said, calling for a 'wow, bang' approach rather than just 'bashing (bank executives) about the ears'.
He argued the commissioner, a former High Court justice, was 'not the right man for the job', as his appointment gave the inquiry too much of a legal focus.
Most importantly, he said the report was missing redress for victims of the financial services industry.
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The family had to surrender their farm in Meanderra, Queensland, to the National Australia Bank in 2014 after a series of poor seasons
Mr Mott - pictured here during an appearance on The Project - claims he was 'buggered' by default interest charged by the bank
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In his report, Mr Hayne made criminal and civil referrals for some financial entities, but they were not named, and no charges have been laid against executives.
Mr Hayne recommended three major measures to help farmers:
- the banking code should change so banks do not charge default interest on agricultural land loans during droughts or national disasters
- that banks only call in receivers or administrators for a distressed loan for a last resort, and
- the establishment of a national farm debt mediation scheme
Mr Mott said while the measures were no doubt a 'good thing', they were a 'no brainer' and twenty years too late.
The measures came after the commission was told stories of farmers who were hit with penalty interest for defaulting on their loans.
Mr Mott was himself 'buggered up' by default interest, paying a total of $1.5 million to the bank during his ordeal.
'It should be a no brainer (not to charge default interest during drought),' he said.
'When somebody gets into trouble how the hell are they going to get out of trouble if they keep flogging them?
'With farming, almost every case of default is when there is a natural disaster of some kind.
'Farmers are quite conservative people. They don't put themselves out there, but when things get really bad, you've got to spend money to make it.
He said the problem was, simply: 'Our banking system in this country does not adequately provide a service for rural farmers'.
Mr Mott's biggest disappointments were that there was 'nothing' to protect victims from the bank, and there was 'no redress', or compensation, for victims.
'There's nothing there to protect the victims against the bank,' Mr Mott said.
The National Australia Bank came in for particular criticism in Kenneth Hayne's royal commission report
'When you ultimately take out a bank loan, all the paperwork you sign, you sign away all your rights to that bank,' he said.
'If you default, whether the bank has done the wrong thing or you have done the wrong thing, if that goes to court you've already signed away all your rights before you even go to court.
More than 10,000 people made submissions to the commission.
'You can imagine the amount of compensation that would be in that.
'Really, the government's got no intention to do anything about it and the taxpayer shouldn't have to fund this, I might add.
'If anything's done it should be the banks forced to pay for it.
'Why should the people have to pay for it?'
Royal Commissioner Kenneth Hayne during an awkward photo opportunity with Treasurer Josh Frydenberg last week. Mr Mott said Mr Hayne did a good job, but the commission should have been run by a panel of eminent of Australians, rather than just a former High Court judge
The government has supported the commission's recommendation to scrap default interest charges for farmers.
Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said this week: 'It's time that despicable practice ended full stop because I don't believe the rate the banks charge reflects the actual cost to them'.
The government has also pledged to set up a national scheme to help farmers seek mediation to work out a way for them to repay their loans where possible.
As for Mr Mott, he and his son live next to the farm they used to own.
Perversely, it has thrived under new ownership, thanks to a few strong seasons, he said.
His dispute with the National Australia Bank continues. The bank has previously commented on Mr Mott's matter in a statement to the ABC.
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