Steven Ciobo (Moncrieff, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I rise to make a statement in connection with the Economics Standing Committee advisory report on the Tax Laws Amendment (Managed Investment Trust Withholding Tax) Bill 2012.

Liberal members of the committee have lodged a dissenting report in relation to this bill. It is curious that this report, as the chair of the committee outlined, reflects on a bill that was before the committee only a matter of weeks ago and which the committee has already reported on. Mindful of that, the Liberal members of the committee have made dissenting comments that highlight our concern that perceptions about the sovereign risk in Australia are founded in reason—because this government does not know whether it is Arthur or Martha. That goes very directly to the Tax Laws Amendment (Managed Investment Trust Withholding Tax) Bill 2012.

The government originally announced they were reducing the rate from 30 per cent down to 7½ per cent. Then they announced in the budget that they were increasing the rate from 7½ per cent to 15 per cent. Then they decided to withdraw and leave it at 7½ per cent, before introducing this bill, which puts it back up to 15 per cent. Is it any wonder at all that people are confused about what this government is up to? Is it any wonder that as Liberal members of the committee we stand steadfastly opposed not only to the impact of the bill itself but also to the very process of in-again, out-again, on-again, off-again, that this government has adopted with respect to the Tax Laws Amendment (Managed Investment Trust Withholding Tax) Bill 2012 and, more broadly, with respect to withholding taxes are generally?

We stand by our concerns as raised in the previous dissenting report of the committee. We also highlight that there were some robust criticisms of Treasury modelling and of the comparison rate chart that was put forward by Treasury and tabled and lodged with the committee secretariat and raised by, for example, the Property Council of Australia.

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