Founder, Dr Peter Brandson answers your questions in relation to Bank Reform Now's objectives, campaign activities and other how to's.
Once this campaign is established NAB will not have the option of purchasing the property at any price.
Dr B has an open and shut case against NAB. All he required was that NAB send someone - with the authority to settle - to talk to him. He had told at least five of their team at various times what was required. Plus they knew from his correspondence with the Ombudsman. In response to those requests the NAB did not contact him at all. The only thing NAB did do initially was respond to the Financial Ombudsman’s preliminary inquiries. Which actually was very helpful as the material they provided proved beyond doubt that NAB had in fact maladministered the loans. Finally, once this campaign was in pre-launch in October 2013, the bank contacted him – and eventually gave him the documents he had requested – as they are legally obliged to do. However at a 90 minute meeting with the head of NAB NSW / ACT it was clear NAB was not taking the issue seriously. Their representative was asked to prove the loan was justified - he did not bring one shred of evidence to show that NAB was innocent. He denied the obvious and treated Dr B like a fool. He looked at all the evidence Dr B had collected and then just followed the bank's policy - deny until the client believes you or gives up in disgust and goes away. Well Dr B didn't believe it and he is not going away. He told NAB that he will not give up until every Australian that is harmed by bank malpractice gets the same restitution and compensation that he sought from NAB - and he meant it.
The advice Dr B has is that he would likely win a case against NAB in Court. Putting the BRN campaign together is stressful and time consuming enough though. Going through the legal channel is a nightmare for customers and the bank abuses the legal process to deliberately harm clients. The only people who win in this sort of game are the bank's lawyers. Also even though NAB would lose and be liable for costs the law favours the bank and Dr B could only hope get a fraction of the damages owed to him by NAB. Dr B realises that the court of public opinion is far more powerful and effective in dealing with predatory bankers.
Dr B's life has been significantly damaged by NAB’s actions – and it is not only the financial damage. NAB can never truly compensate him for the time they have taken from him; time with his kids; the holidays he never took; the good times that should have been enjoyed with friends and family. The only thing NAB cares about is their bottom line. So justice will only be done when victims are fully compensated – not just him but so many others. People are destroyed by the bank stealing time from their lives. Not just the time they spent earning the capital that NAB has effectively stolen - but also time handling Court matters – talking to (and paying lawyers); phone calls; meetings; chasing documents; studying evidence; researching similar cases – on and on. Most victims don’t have the strength or knowledge to take on the NAB. Dr B does - and he is.
Yes we are. We know that many people have been badly hurt by dodgy bank activities. Businesses are risky anyway but a bank can abuse its power in various ways and cause a business to fail. Some people never recover from this but many survive and thrive after they've learned some hard lessons. If you run a business and see the value in changing the way banks operate we would welcome your support. If you believe your bank may not be happy about it you can choose to help us anonymously. Dr B has put years of work and a lot of money into this project because he knew that the time would soon come when bad bank behaviour had to be confronted. That time is now.
If funding permits we will help develop a system that really makes it easy for people to switch banks. We will exert as much political pressure as we can to see that a wide ranging powerful Royal Commission is set up to investigate the banking industry. Out of this we should see a range of better options for banking developed. It really is up to all of you. If you support the campaign by participating and spreading the word via Twitter, Facebook and YouTube anything is possible.
We have a large range of programs that will gradually be released. These will all be interesting and some will be great fun - for most of us - not for NAB (and its shareholders). We hope to set precedents in several cases. Dr B has made a commitment to this - failure is not an option.
Campaign participants will be able to upload their stories of bank misbehaviour. We ask people to only put up accurate verifiable stories. We cannot moderate these so people must take care to comply with our terms of service. The stories can be anonymous - if so take care not to mention your names in the body of the submission. Also - there may come a time when a Royal Commission is called or a class action taken against the banks. The material we collect and display will be useful for this purpose.
Test question to see if the "Ask A Question" block is working well
No - all the banks to some degree engage in these types of unsavoury business tactics. The main driver is that the bankers must enlarge their loan books to get bonuses and promotions. So their ability to look after their families depends on tricking clients into unjustifiable loans. The bankers know right from the start that clients will lose their houses or businesses.
We have created a program whereby new information about banks and their conduct can be released gradually. Subscribe to our various media sites to be alerted when new material is posted. You will find the stories about other people's experiences with NAB and the other banks very interesting and helpful. It will collect in one place everything you should know before deciding to do business with them. A lot of this information is what convinced Dr B to take massive action to help others that have been harmed.
Some of the details have kept private out of respect and consideration for all parties involved. At some point Dr B may co-author a book about the whole sorry saga. Perhaps even a screenplay.
By nature I am not a publicity seeker. The only other time I have gone public for an important cause was when the NSW Carr government approved a Charcoal Factory down the road from a school just south of Batemans Bay - the Nature Coast - one of the most beautiful parts of Australia. Then I was encouraged to make public speeches and do radio interviews. The company that was involved - as of 1.9.04 - no longer exists thanks to a community that took action when required against a government and corporation that colluded against their interests.
Consulting the Hansard (8.5.02) reveals a colourful character was involved in the deal between the government and the corporation. It all caught up with the company - and the Honourable meticulous minister in the end.
The Hon. EDDIE OBEID (Minister for Mineral Resources, and Minister for Fisheries) [5.28 p.m.]: On 1 May development approval was granted by the Government to Australian Silicon Ltd for the construction of a carbon production plant near Mogo on the South Coast. That decision follows several years of consultation and negotiation. It also follows the tabling of an exhaustive amount of information for the benefit of all members and the people of New South Wales. Yet I notice that neither of the motions refers to the facts nor recognises the transparency of the Government's processes. Any examination of the consent conditions reveals that each submission received has been given meticulous attention.
