Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I commend the member for Longman for his excellent speech on the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission Bill 2012 and the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (Consequential and Transitional) Bill 2012.

What do we have before us? We have more Gillard government incompetence. Only this government could set up a commission to reduce red tape that will actually create it. Its incompetence knows no bounds.

An opposition member: Incompetence on steroids!

It is incompetence on steroids. If this was a one-off you could say, 'Okay, we can sort of understand.' But it is not a one-off. Look at what we had last week. We had a bill before this parliament on which the Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities had to rush in amendment after amendment because, when it was first introduced, it wanted to ban the use of fishing rods. It wanted the minister to be able to prescribe that he could ban the use of fishing rods. That is how incompetent it was.

Again we have the minister who has become famous in this place as the minister of the clawback. Every time she has spoken in this place it has been about clawing back. Now what does she want to do to community organisations and charities? She wants to break their backs. She wants to use red tape to break their backs. This is what she is all about. Forget the clawback. This minister wants to break their backs. She wants to get red tape and regulation and break their backs.

The sad thing is that this commission has been set up to do the opposite, yet it is just going to, sadly, burden community groups, who do fantastic work, who bind together. I must say that whenever I travel around my electorate nothing makes me prouder than seeing the work these not-for-profit organisations and charities do. What is their reward for their giving? This government is going to saddle them with red tape which is going to make their lives harder. As the member for Longman said, every minute that they spend on this additional red tape is a minute that they are not doing the valuable work that they do within our communities.

If the government had a good conscience it would take this bill back and say: 'We got it wrong. We haven't done a proper job. We haven't consulted properly.' Nine days of rushed consultation has led to this bill. Take it back, start again and do the process properly. Surely you can learn that what leads to gross incompetence is rushing stuff before this parliament. We have seen it time after time. So step back and say, 'Okay, we're big enough to admit we got it wrong,' and start again.

I will just give you an idea of all those who have problems with this bill before us today. I think it is worthwhile for the House to hear about these groups, because they are not the sort of groups who raise concerns about legislation on a whim. If they are concerned about it, the government should stop and listen. We have Add-Ministry Inc., the Anglican Diocese of Sydney, Australian Baptist Ministries, the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference and the Australian Conservation Foundation—a key supporter of the Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities and of the government. We have the Australian Council for International Development, the Australian Council of Social Service, the Australian Institute of Company Directors, the Australian Institute of Public Directors, Carers Australia, Catholic Health Australia, Catholic Social Services, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Western Australia, the Community Council for Australia, Community Employers WA, the Conservation Council of South Australia—

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