.
Analysis exercise continued
Practise finding the parts of an argument
1) Read the text and instructions carefully.
2) Identify the contention, the arguments, the claims, the evidence and underlying assumptions as well as the use of language to persuade you as the reader.
3) Consider the quality of the overall argument in this text.
- Think of what specific additional evidence might weaken or lend support to the claims.
- Ask yourself what changes in the argument would make the reasoning more sound.
Key argument: A key message that a writer wants to convey to the readers to support their contention. The writer will use of range of key arguments to support their contention. The writer will use language and evidence to try to persuade you to a particular point of view.
Activity
Select the buttons to explore through each part of the paragraphs.
Key argument 2
Australia has a sustained history of financial sector scandals. Since the 2007 financial crisis, Australian banks have paid more than $1 billion in fines and compensation from rorting their own clients. Who was leading the banks? The Commonwealth Bank chief executive had been with the bank for about two decades, Westpac had a senior executive at the bank since 2012, and worked at ANZ in the early 2000s, while the ANZ CEO had been at the bank since 2009, with decades in the industry (Montague et. al. 2016). It is clear that this in senior management roles have to be held accountable for this track record of financial scandals. Former federal treasurer Peter Costello has issued a scathing critique of the banking sector and the role of Australia's corporate regulators in contributing to a culture of dishonest and corrupt behaviours. He inferred that “their inadequate supervision, with its focus on financial stability whilst ignoring other looming problems, enabled the big banks to behave ‘appallingly’". In December 2017 the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry (hereafter referred to as the ‘Royal Commission’) (Australian Government, 2019) was established to explore possible breaches of financial services laws which were at risk of jeopardising the financial wellbeing of the Australian community. The Commission identified a vast array of areas where the financial sector clearly needs to make significant changes and improvements to address sustained corrupt financial practices.
Key argument 3
The banking industry has received a strong message that they must change or they will be changed. The public despise them. Tens of thousands of honest bankers, who understandably held a position of great trust in the community, have been tarnished by the actions of a few, but the culture of many. Royal Commission Chair, Hayne, asserted that the “[T]he community expects that financial services entities that break the law will be held to account,” Hayne writes. The work of the commission has shown that not only has the law “not been obeyed”, it has also “not been enforced effectively” (Australian Government, 2019). Banking needs to change, to focus on customers and root out wrongdoing. The potential challenge facing all the major banks is bringing about cultural change, but it would be a near-impossible task for incumbent management given they were all long-serving members of the local banking industry.
Activity
Elements of the paragraphs will be outlined at the beginning and end of each section in [ ].
Key argument 2
[claim-start]Australia has a sustained history of financial sector scandals[claim-end]. [weak-start]Since the 2007 financial crisis, Australian banks have paid more than $1 billion in fines and compensation from[weak-end][language-start] rorting [language-end][weak-start]their own clients[weak-end]. Who was leading the banks? [strong-start]The Commonwealth Bank chief executive had been with the bank for about two decades, Westpac had a senior executive at the bank since 2012, and worked at ANZ in the early 2000s, while the ANZ CEO had been at the bank since 2009, with decades in the industry (Montague et. al. 2016).[strong-end] It is clear that this in senior management roles have to be held accountable for this track record of financial scandals. Former federal treasurer Peter Costello has issued a scathing critique of the banking sector and the role of Australia's corporate regulators in contributing to a culture of dishonest and corrupt behaviours. [weak-start]He inferred that “their inadequate supervision, with its focus on financial stability whilst ignoring other looming problems, enabled the big banks to behave [weak-end][language-start]‘appallingly’ “[language-end]. [strong-start]In December 2017 the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry (hereafter referred to as the ‘Royal Commission’) (Australian Government, 2019) was established to explore possible breaches of financial services laws which were at risk of jeopardising the financial wellbeing of the Australian community.[strong-end] The Commission identified [language-start]a vast array of areas[language-end] where the financial sector clearly needs to make significant changes and improvements to address sustained corrupt financial practices.
Key argument 3
[claim-start]The banking industry has received a strong message that they must change or they will be changed. [claim-end] [assumption-start]The public despise them. [assumption-end] [weak-start]Tens of thousands of honest bankers, who understandably held a position of great trust in the community, have been tarnished by the actions of a few, but the culture of many.[weka-end] [strong-start] Royal Commission Chair, Hayne, asserted that the “[T]he community expects that financial services entities that break the law will be held to account,” Hayne writes. The work of the commission has shown that not only has the law “not been obeyed”, it has also “not been enforced effectively” (Australian Government, 2019). [strong-end] Banking needs to change, to focus on customers and root out wrongdoing. The potential challenge facing all the major banks is bringing about cultural change, but it would be a [language-start] near-impossible [language-end] task for incumbent management given they were all long-serving members of the local banking industry.