Chris Bowen (Prospect, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

What an extraordinary contribution from the Assistant Treasurer. I did not realise that the Australian Bankers Association was a trade union. It must have registered overnight with the Industrial Relations Commission. I did not realise that the Asia Pacific Loan Market Association was an affiliate of the ACTU. I did not know—I confess my ignorance—that the Australian Financial Markets Association was a socialist organisation. The Assistant Treasurer came in here and accused me of being a union boss. That is a major promotion. He also accused me of toeing the line of the ACTU, when what Labor have done is intervene to protect Australian business from his incompetence and his failure to talk to business about these changes before he introduced them. I refer to the submission of the Australian Bankers Association, in which it said:

The ABA has grave concerns about the content of Schedule 2 of the Bill, which contains proposed amendments to the interest withholding tax.

It holds grave concerns. The Asia Pacific Loan Market Association said in its submission:

Unfortunately the manner in which this Bill has been introduced—

by this minister—

has caused significant uncertainty and concern in finance markets.

It is this minister who is causing significant concern in Australia’s finance markets. It is this minister who does not understand the ramifications of what he has come into this House and moved. Now, in an embarrassing backflip, he has had to come in here and withdraw. I remind the minister that in my reply to him in the second reading debate I called on him to withdraw this schedule for further consultation. He arrogantly walked in here and said, ‘The Labor Party doesn’t understand business. It only listens to trade unions.’ No, we listen to business. We listen to a little organisation called the Australian Bankers Association. We listen to the other bodies that represent Australian financiers who are trying to raise money for infrastructure projects and other major projects throughout this country, who say, ‘This will make our job a lot harder.’ They say, ‘This will make it harder to get investment in infrastructure in this country.’ That is over and above this minister’s incompetence in failing to come into the House and move changes to section 51AD and division 16D of the tax act. This minister has yet to do that, and he is trying to make it harder by making these withholding tax changes—over and above his failure to improve the situation by changing 51AD and 16D of the tax act.

You know that the Assistant Treasurer is really desperate when he comes in here, gets his Crosby Textor folder out and starts talking about the Labor Party being influenced by trade unions and under the control of trade unions on this bill. He is really desperate when he comes and here and says, ‘It’s terrible, you know. The shadow Assistant Treasurer is listening to the ABA—that well-known socialist organisation the Australian Bankers Association’—

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