Greens leader Bob Brown says the Commonwealth Bank's rate rise will cost jobs and hurt small businesses after the bank raised its interest rates by 45 basis points on Tuesday.
Senator Brown says the hike of almost twice the Reserve bank increase will lead to some businesses going to the wall before Christmas - companies that would otherwise have survived.
He says that will lead to some people losing their jobs.
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Senator Brown's called for a follow-up to the Wallace Inquiry of the late 1990s into the banking sector.
Meanwhile, the Opposition says the government must take the pressure off interest rates by cutting back on spending, the ABC reports.
Opposition Finance Spokesman says the government must make some heavy cuts.
"The Government will be totally negligent if it ignores this latest signal," he said.
