Michael Danby (Melbourne Ports, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am going to restrict my remarks to items affecting schedule 6 of this Tax Laws Amendment (2008 Measures No. 2) Bill 2008. But I also want to echo the previous speaker’s remarks about the people who have deductible gift recipient status: the AE2 Commemorative Foundation; Ian Thorpe’s Fountain for Youth Ltd; Wheelchairs for Kids Inc.; the Spirit of Australia Foundation; particularly the World Youth Day 2008 Trust, which, with the visit of His Holiness, is going to be a very worthwhile organisation; the Memorials Development Committee Ltd; the Council for Jewish Community Security; and Playgroup Australia Inc.

Schedule 6 of this bill amends the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 to update the list of deductible gift recipients, some of which I have just read out, and particularly deductions for the Council for Jewish Community Security. The Council for Jewish Community Security was established to assist in the provision of security and protection for members and institutions of the Australian Jewish community. This is a process that began with the Sunday program which I participated in way back in 1999 soon after becoming a member. In that television program the producer, John Lyons, and I made a great effort to explain to the Australian public the necessity of establishing what kind of threat Jewish community schools particularly were under—though it also affects wider institutions—that this community security trust will look after. A great number of people contribute above and beyond what is necessary via Australian taxation to the wellbeing of these institutions, and I must point out that this is because they face national security threats, as the Channel 9 Sunday program pointed out, that are equivalent to the threat faced by the US embassy or the Israeli embassy in Canberra. This is an impost on religious and community organisations which puts a great deal of mental and physical strain on them. This measure in this bill will, as with the other charities, enable the organisations to be supported by volunteers who are paying money over to them in a way that will see that their security needs are strongly supported, as they should be. Mr Speaker, I am quite aware that we are coming up to the six o’clock deadline for this House. I seek leave to continue my remarks when the debate is resumed.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.

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