Hmmm, isn't this abdicating self-responsibility on behalf of the borrower? It may be ethically questionable, but at what point does the nanny state have to step in to decide what's best for the consumer? For example, the 'buy now pay (much much more over the long term) later' deals offered by retailers for couches and TVs and Playstations that consumers don't really need can also put someone into trouble, especially if they are on a shopping spree. And that's before we even get into the rates charged by credit card companies and their tactics to encourage you to get into debt that you can't get out of. How about we invest more as a country in a bit of simple financial education? (Although I consider it scary that someone could take out a loan of several hundred thousand dollars without considering their ability to pay it off!) It might not have been ethical of Westpac, or 'the right thing to do', but did they really break the law? (Although if I were the CEO of the bank I'd consider such loans/customers more trouble than they are worth, and take steps internally to stop such practices, regardless of the legalities).

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