Craig Emerson (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Finance Minister on Deregulation) Share this | Hansard source

in reply—I would like to thank those members who took part in the debate on the Cross-Border Insolvency Bill 2008. Insolvency law is one of the most important parts of our regulatory framework. Well-designed insolvency laws will promote entrepreneurship, facilitate credit markets and quickly and cheaply re-allocate the capital of failed ventures to its highest valued use. Underpinning all of this is the concept of certainty. Sound insolvency laws will provide debtors and creditors with the means of ascertaining and maintaining their exposure to risk. This bill represents one part of an international effort to improve certainty where businesses trade across national borders. This government is committed to improving the quality of business regulation. There has been a lot of debate about that. Just recently the Business Council of Australia had cause to issue a report calling for an accelerated reform process. The Rudd Labor government will be doing that.

We will continue to be an active supporter of initiatives that seek to harmonise regulation and improve the efficiency of markets. It is important to recognise the leadership role of Australia in the area covered by this bill. Australia was actively involved in developing the model law and continues to be actively involved through the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law, the Forum for Asian Insolvency Reform, the OECD and APEC, just to name a few. Australian practitioners are well regarded internationally and tend to feature prominently in leadership groups of international insolvency organisations. This suggests that Australia’s adoption of the model law may directly influence other countries, particularly in our own Asia-Pacific region. This would further add to the momentum for harmonisation in this important area and provide a strong platform for future reform.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Ordered that this bill be reported to the House without amendment.

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