Joe Hockey's credibility is today in tatters after his cynical attempt to keep mortgage exit fees in place has been exposed as having no policy foundation.
Last night Treasury confirmed its strong and repeated advice was that exit fees on new home loans should be banned, proving Mr Hockey and the exit fees he supports are the only things standing in the way of Australian families walking down the road to get a better deal on their mortgage.
"I just want to put on the record that the policy position that was put to the Government and put to the Treasurer was that exit fees should be banned," senior Treasury official Jim Murphy told a Senate Estimates hearing last night.
Even a Coalition member today said exit fees should go so consumers are free to switch banks.
"I've pursued this issue for probably 18 months and you can call it a split in the Coalition," Nationals Senator John Williams said.
The Gillard Government knows mortgage exit fees are one of the biggest roadblocks stopping Australians getting the best deal for their families.
Mr Hockey's only fig-leaf for keeping exit fees has been stripped away and now we see that he's going to try and use parliament to bring back exit fees after we scrap them.
Mr Hockey needs to stop standing by some of the banks and start standing up for Australian families.