Stuart Robert (Fadden, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support the Corporations Amendment (No. 1) Bill 2008 [2009]. I thank the member for Blair for his detailed and erudite contribution on the law and how it pertains to the issue. This bill prevents persons who are disqualified as company directors in New Zealand from becoming directors in Australia. It addresses the perceived loophole in the existing law whereby people ostensibly just crossed the Tasman to avoid disqualification.

The objectives of this bill are certainly in line with the principles of the MOU on business law harmonisation between our two countries. The benefits of mutually recognising director disqualifications were raised by the member for Higgins and the coalition government in 2006. Hence the coalition supports the move. By way of background, the MOU was first signed in 1988 and allowed for harmonisation of business law. It was reviewed every five years, the last review being in 2006. New Zealand closed this regulatory gap by amending their Companies Act 1993 in 2006. The Australian bill is modelled on the New Zealand bill.

As we debate this bill in the parliament, it is interesting to note that, according to ASIC’s 2007-08 annual report, 280 litigations were finalised in Australia. ASIC jailed 23 people, 40 were banned under section 206B(1) and 66 officers were banned or disqualified as a result of ASIC action. Eighty illegal investment schemes were wound up. ASIC received 11,436 complaints. If you look back at the 2006-07 financial report of ASIC you will see that 21 criminals were jailed, compared to 17 in the previous year. There were 256 civil orders against people or companies, 105 illegal schemes shut down and 110 people removed from directing companies. Statistics from various years have shown an increase in the number of directors banned, schemes shut down and funds frozen.

I can only assume that the figures in New Zealand are exactly the same; therefore, it is a lay-down misere. The last thing we want in this country is someone from another country—and in this particular instance we are talking about New Zealand, although the way the bill is structured will allow other countries to be added—for example a director who has been banned because of criminal or commercial malpractice, financial services advisers who have been banned because of misconduct, auditors or liquidators disciplined for misconduct or people with civil orders against them, coming across the Tasman with impunity and bringing their own professional negligence and incompetence into this country. I commend ASIC for the work it is doing in keeping on top of those who would flagrantly disregard our laws, and indeed our people, for their own self-aggrandisement.

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