WESTPAC CEO BRIAN HARTZER, STATEMENT TO STOCK EXCHANGE, NOV 20:
‘These issues should never have occurred and should have been identified and rectified sooner. It is disappointing that we have not met our own standards as well as regulatory expectations and requirements.’
PRIME MINISTER SCOTT MORRISON, MEDIA CONFERENCE, NOV 20:
‘Obviously, it’s appalling and distressing. The banks need to lift their game.’
ATTORNEY GENERAL CHRISTIAN PORTER, AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW, NOV 22:
‘The whole point about efforts the government makes to prevent money laundering – and the laws that we pass to make money laundering illegal – is that money laundering is an offence that facilitates other offences.’
‘It facilitates terrorism. Its facilitates slave trade. It facilitates child paedophilia rings. It’s a facilitating offence.’
TREASURER JOSH FRYDENBERG, ABC TELEVISION, NOV 24:
‘We’re talking about 23 million alleged breaches of the anti-money laundering laws, we’re talking about a failure to adequately assess customers with links to child trafficking and child pornography. We’ve seen from AUSTRAC a statement that there has been indifference by the board, that there has been a systemic failure by the bank and there’s been inadequate oversight.’
WESTPAC CHAIRMAN LINDSAY MAXSTED, AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW, NOV 25:
‘We think for Brian not to be CEO would be an amazing piece of destabilisation of a company. But we also understand, on the other hand, there is some destabilising going on, possibly, by him being here.’
Ms Dolan’s luncheon was held at Westpac’s headquarters (above) in the Sydney CBD in October 2016
PETER DUTTON, MINISTER FOR HOME AFFAIRS, PARLIAMENT, NOV 25:
‘It is clear that the Westpac bosses, through their negligence, have given a free pass to paedophiles, and there is a price to pay for that. That price will be paid, and we have been very clear about it.’
WESTPAC CEO HARTZER, IN A MEETING WITH SENIOR EXECUTIVES, AS REPORTED BY THE AUSTRALIAN CITING SOURCES, NOV 26:
‘But actually for people in mainstream Australia going about their daily lives, this is not a major issue so we don’t need to overcook this.’
‘This is not an Enron or Lehman Brothers.’
On cancelling staff Christmas parties:
‘Unfortunately in the heightened media environment it will not look good if we have our staff whooping it up with alcohol.’
WESTPAC CHAIRMAN MAXSTED, MEDIA AND ANALYST CALL, NOV 26:
Hartzer’s comments were ‘very disappointing statements and I and the board do not agree.’
‘The statements as I understand it need to be read in context. He’s given me some outline to the context of them but no, we don’t agree with that at all.’
WESTPAC CEO HARTZER, ANNOUNCING RESIGNATION IN STATEMENT TO STOCK EXCHANGE, NOV 26:
‘As CEO I accept that I am ultimately accountable for everything that happens at the bank. And it is clear that we have fallen well short of what the community expects of us, and we expect of ourselves.’
Australian Associated Press