Crikey’s campaign against legally dubious bank penalty fees has finally gained some political traction as Family First’s Steve Fielding pushes our barrow all the way to a Senate inquiry.

Unfortunately we know only too well how pointless Senate inquiries tend to be, but Senator Fielding’s success in at least getting the matter aired will embarrass the banks. I suspect it could well hasten changes might already be in the wings.

The oddity is that it’s been left to Family First to make the running on such a soundly populist issue. Maybe Labor’s too busy promising a looney ban on plastic bags – well, I suppose it has to let Peter Garrett do something. I wonder if they stopped to think it’s really a Mark Latham sort of policy?

Obviously Crikey resonates more effectively with the right-wing religious movement as Senator Steve has even prepared his own legislation to stop the banks’ profiteering on penalty fees.

Now, which might matter more to voters, saving hundreds of millions of dollars or the inconvenience of losing the useful and unfairly maligned plastic bag?