Chris Bowen (Prospect, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Financial Services, Superannuation and Corporate Law) Share this | Hansard source

I will be here for as long as has been agreed between the whips and as the standing orders provide for this session. I am more than happy and I have been more than willing, as the honourable member will know, to take all his questions. I have not arranged for government questions, because I believe in open, accountable and transparent government.

In relation to the honourable member’s question on foreign workers, this is clearly a vexed issue in that the government did consider closely the impact of this measure, particularly on workers involved in aid projects and projects related to defence, policing and national security. Accordingly, those workers were excised from the government’s measure. By way of background, the exemption is one that has been in place for some time and largely predates tax agreements and the abolition of double taxation through tax agreements et cetera. The government took the view that this was an appropriate decision, given those developments in the tax law.

In relation to the honourable member’s question—and I do not wish to misrepresent him; if I have, it is inadvertent and he will correct the record—I think his question was going to what the government considered in terms of cabinet considerations, the Expenditure Review Committee and Strategic Policy and Budget Committee considerations, and that we considered various alternatives. I would refer the honourable member to my previous answer that I do not—and no government minister will—discuss what options were considered by the cabinet and various subcommittees of the cabinet.

See this speech in context