Andrew Laming (Bowman, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Speaking in favour of the elements of the Tax Laws Amendment (2009 Measures No. 4) Bill 2009 today, I would like to touch briefly on the R&D tax offset, which is an important bridging measure. As a result of the Cutler review, we will see significant changes after 2011. But, in the meantime, the lifting of the cap from $1 million to $2 million removes a significant perverse element whereby many businesses were restricting their R&D development expenditure to below $1 million in order to qualify for the tax offset. It is important to see that that change has been made.

I want to go to schedule 2 of this bill, which identifies the private entities for which tax-deductible donations can be made by companies and individuals. As has been noted in this debate already, just over 700 of these entities exist. They are an important element of reforms that were made under the previous government in response to the business and community partnerships working group into tax reform in 1999. What that has potentially unleashed is the enormous power of donations to the non-profit sector through these tax vehicles, and there is a very good example of this working very well in my electorate of Bowman. The benefits of being able to invest as an individual or a company in this way are seen in the workings of Redlands Young Champions. This is, as it sounds, an opportunity to fund the efforts of young Australians in my electorate. Recipients have to be of school age. Whether they be participating in sport or non-sporting activities, such a vehicle gives them the potential to fund their dreams to go to the places they wish to go and to fulfil their endowments. It may well be a single event and it may well be interstate or overseas. But it is not limited to sport. What has been occurring through Redlands Young Champions, particularly for lower socioeconomic groups, is that students have a chance to travel for any kind of activity. They can be as young as six or seven years of age, when students first find themselves travelling with sporting teams. They may then go on to orchestras and drama groups. As we move into the teenage years there is the Duke of Edinburgh scheme, science and maths olympiads and exchange programs that may even run overseas.

The first of these announcements of travel bursaries were made in my electorate only two months ago, and I would like to recognise some of them. Ruby Fuller, a student from Cleveland District State High School, has as part of a cultural exchange received assistance to fulfil her dream to travel to the UK later this year through a tax vehicle such as we are discussing today. Jaimie Buckridge has had assistance from Redlands Young Champions to go to the netball interregional championships. Jessica Brown won the Alana Haines Australasian scholarship competition and, to fulfil her dream, was able to rely on an investment from Redlands Young Champions. Claire Innes was also part of the cultural tour to Europe. Amanda Olorenshaw is part of the wind orchestra at Alexandra Hills State High School. I would also like to mention two very impressive young Redlanders—Rylie Holland, who plays netball, and Sarah Chlonta, who collected a bursary to attend the Australian national scout jamboree.

That unlocking of the dreams of young Australians to attend events like these, which are often very costly, is achieved through the changes that were made in 1999 and the further amendments that are being made here today. There are another 20 or 30 winners from that first round, so obviously this is a very large foundation. The benefits are that, through a sponsorship, a company or an individual can make a payment and, without directing how that payment is disbursed, payments can be made to other non-profit entities. So there is an enormous opportunity here for young people right around the country to benefit if these donations are promoted. That is exactly what has happened in Redlands. I should make the point that it is a rolling application procedure, so it does allow people from the age of six to 18 to apply at any time—and, in a rather innovative model, they are judged by members of the community. Once again, that is an arms-length process that allows community members to determine both who receive these scholarships and the size of the awards.

But the final message from this fairly innovative process is that it does not matter what the activity is. We have had so much support for sporting travel—and, of course, people who play sport typically have an entire sporting club behind them to help with fundraising. But what we are seeing here, with the unlocked potential of the Redlands Young Champions program, is that you may be a single person who wishes to attend a science or maths olympiad or a chess championship and there is no club behind you to help you fundraise and pay for that travel. Through the innovative changes that have been made in this area for private and tax-deductible entities to make these kinds of donations, we are seeing a method for both individuals, through both bequests and donations, and also for companies to be able to support their local community. That is one element of this legislation that I wanted to highlight.

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