The banking lobby is demanding that Treasurer Scott Morrison reveal the numbers used to justify what it has slammed as a "hastily designed" and harmful $6.2 billion levy on the nations biggest financial institutions.
Australian Bankers' Association chief executive Anna Bligh wrote to Mr Morrison on Friday demanding the release of Treasury modelling used to justify the surprise tax unveiled in Tuesday's budget.
A day after expressing anger at the lack of policy detail available in a meeting with Treasury officials, Ms Bligh released to the media a letter to the treasurer asking for modelling that showed the economic impact of the levy and how much revenue it was expected to raise.
"The ABA believes releasing the analysis we have requested today is one small step to ensuring we can limit the unintended consequences and economic harm to Australians of what is clearly a hastily designed tax," Ms Bligh, a former Queenlsand Labor premier, said in her letter.
Ms Bligh said it was unacceptable to keep banks and the broader community "in the dark" and has demanded to see the modelling by 5pm on Tuesday, May 16, the day before the ABA expects to see the draft legislation for the new levy.
Banks are maintaining fierce opposition to the levy, which will hit Australia's five biggest banks - ANZ, the Commonwealth, NAB, Westpac and Macquarie Bank - over four years raising $6.2 billion for budget repair.
Commonwealth Bank CEO Ian Narev did not rule out a mining lobby-style public campaign against the levy when asked about it on Friday.
The bank boss was asked on ABC radio whether the banking industry would engage in a public campaign like the one unleashed by the mining lobby in 2010 to fight off then-PM Kevin Rudd's resources super profits tax.
Mr Narev said only that the banks had "a responsibility", once they had all the details of the proposed new levy, to explain its impact and explain that "it really is a tax on all Australians".
"Once we have all the details and we can work through them, we will work out the best way to do that," he said.
