Peter Garrett (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the amendment be agreed to.

In relation to the cost recovery bills, the government supports the two opposition amendments to address recommendations made by the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee in its report on the bills dated 20 June 2011. The first amendment, to review the supervisory cost recovery levy two years after royal assent of these bills, is in line with the Australian government's cost recovery guidelines and statements made within the cost recovery impact statement published by AUSTRAC in May 2011. The levy bill already provides for the minister to determine by legislative instrument the amount of levy payable by a leviable entity for a financial year. The use of a legislative instrument made by the minister ensures that cost recovery has the flexibility to be responsive to changes in the regulatory population and AUSTRAC's supervision strategy. It also provides an opportunity for annual consultation with industry as to the most appropriate allocation of costs across the sector. The amendment to mandate a review of the regulatory impact of the levy will complement the two annual periods of consultation with industry that will have occurred as a result of the ministerial determinations in the 2011-12 and 2012-13 financial years. These stakeholder consultations, together with any changes made to the cost recovery model, will provide valuable input into the review of the supervisory cost recovery levy provisions contained within the bills.

The second amendment delays comm­encement of the late penalty payment provision for six months after the commencement of the operative parts of the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre Supervisory Cost Recovery Levy Bill 2011. The government has already publicly stated that invoices in respect of the AUSTRAC supervisory levy for the 2011-12 financial year would not be issued until at least February of next year. This time frame will provide AUSTRAC with an appropriate amount of time to establish its systems to collect the levy and also to engage with industry on practical aspects of its application. As such, the government supports this amendment, which clarifies in the bill statements already made on this issue.

The suite of bills before the House today are a positive step for Australia's anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism-financing regulator. AUSTRAC's superv­isory work goes towards protecting the integrity of the financial system and helping businesses remain resilient to money laundering. I commend the amendment to the House.

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