http://www.rba.gov.au/publications/smp/2010/feb/pdf/0210.pdfGraph...

http://www.rba.gov.au/publications/smp/2010/feb/pdf/0210.pdf

Graph 63 I think you need to take another look it clearly shows that the price of unguaranteed debt has now returned to 2008 prices. This is why the guaranteed debt is being removed as it costs more. "Australian banks issued $230 billion of bonds in 2009 nearly double the issuance in 2008 and well above issuance in prior years (Graph 64). The very strong issuance last year predominantly reflected banks seeking to increase the duration of their wholesale funding liabilities as they shifted out of short-term debt. Australian banks have continued to lengthen the maturity of their liabilities by issuing longer-dated bonds. The average tenor of bonds issued recently is 4.8 years, up from 3.9 years a year ago." Looks like banks are heavily cashed up for the next 4.8 years.