Keith Pitt (Hinkler, National Party, Assistant Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment) Share this | Hansard source

Absolutely—both of them. This bill amends the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Fees Imposition Amendment (Fee Streamlining and Other Measures) Bill 2017 to implement a streamlined and simplified foreign investment fee framework. This bill gives effect, in part, to regulatory reforms that the government is undertaking to ensure Australia's foreign investment framework is robust and operates efficiently. The amended fee framework will reduce complexity, achieve more equitable fee outcomes and minimise the regulatory burden on stakeholders. The streamlining changes are broadly revenue neutral, ensuring that foreign investors continue to meet the costs of funding the system.

The fee framework will reduce the number of fee tiers for some categories and implement a standard fee for low-, medium- and high-value acquisitions. The new fee structure will also legislate more existing discretionary fee waiver arrangements to provide a more transparent and consistent approach. The changes to the framework are not intended to encourage or discourage any specific investment category and, instead, aim to ensure fees payable for different investment categories are applied on a more consistent basis for like transactions. The bill will also introduce a 10 per cent fee increase for residential property applications to fund the establishment of the Critical Infrastructure Centre. I commend the bill to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

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