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

in reply—I would like to thank honourable members who contributed to the debate on the Corporations Amendment (No. 1) Bill 2008 [2009]. In summary, the bill will establish a framework in the Corporations Act 2001 by which individuals who are disqualified from managing companies in prescribed foreign countries can also be disqualified in Australia either automatically or by court order. New Zealand is the first prescribed country that these provisions will operate in relation to. The framework has been designed to allow other countries to be added at a later date.

This bill fulfils the requirement under the Australian and New Zealand governments’ Memorandum of Understanding on Business Law Coordination. It moves us a step closer to achieving the policy goal of establishing a single trans-Tasman economic market based on common regulatory frameworks. Under the provisions of the bill, a person will be automatically disqualified from managing corporations in Australia where they have been disqualified by a court in a prescribed foreign country. In addition, an Australian court will have the power to disqualify a person from managing corporations on application by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission on the ground that the person has been disqualified by the operation of law or by the regulator in a prescribed foreign country. This will ensure that all people disqualified in Australia on the basis that they have been disqualified in a prescribed foreign country have had their disqualification scrutinised by a court.

New Zealand’s complementary provisions became operative in 2007 and in the interest of cross-border consistency these amendments have been modelled on those of New Zealand. The bill will enhance the protection of investors and the integrity of Australia’s markets. It does this by ensuring that people who are disqualified from managing corporations in New Zealand cannot avoid disqualification simply by crossing the Tasman. I commend the bill to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

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