Bob Debus (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

in reply—I thank all members for their contributions to the debate on the Financial Transaction Reports Amendment (Transitional Arrangements) Bill 2008. I believe each contributor supported it. The bill, as has been indicated, contains a number of amendments that ensure that businesses can continue to report to AUSTRAC as they work towards compliance with the new reporting obligations that are contained in the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006.

I do emphasise that amendments will not create any duplication in reporting obligations. To the contrary, the purpose of the legislation is to ensure that the simplest possible reporting arrangements remain in place. As Australia’s specialist financial intelligence unit, AUSTRAC of course plays an integral role in identifying, dismantling and disrupting criminal activity and, through the collection and analysis of financial transaction reports, AUSTRAC is able to provide assistance of a most profoundly important sort to law enforcement and national security agencies in the identification and investigation of criminal and terrorist enterprises.

The scale of reporting, I think, is not widely understood. AUSTRAC presently receives around 69,000 reports in relation to suspicious transactions and other transactions every day. So the passage of this bill will ensure that the intelligence gathering role of AUSTRAC is not hindered during the transitional reporting period and that the government, with the assistance of AUSTRAC, can continue to confront money laundering and terrorism financing. I commend the bill to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

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