Julian Hill (Bruce, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is probably a good thing the chamber is empty, because this won't be the most scintillating contribution to Hansard in this term—far from it! I was challenged by my friend the member for Oxley to insert the word 'unicorn' into my speech, so I thought I would meet that at the outset, hoping it may liven things up!

In thinking about this bill, we are going to hear at the outset about another mythical creature that tends to stalk the Notice Paper, and that is a 'zombie'. We've heard a lot about zombie bills and zombie budget measures that just do not die and keep coming back in different forms. Now we have before us a bill to kill three zombie acts and seven zombie bodies. It's a bill to kill, which is a nice change from 'kill Bill'—the government's latest campaign when they have nothing positive to say. This bill is again what largely seems to pass for action and reform under this government.

I say at the outset that Labor will not oppose this bill. We don't support the abolition of all of these bodies, but after they've been gutted by this government, by not appointing members, by removing funding and staff and not providing them with any work to do—left unloved to wither in the corner—they now exist, in effect, in name only. But it is important, I think, to make some remarks and not just let this stuff sail through, because these bodies did play an important role over their life, and so, if you like, this is a bit of a funeral oration, a last rites, for some of these bodies.

The bill repeals three acts and amends 10 acts to abolish seven bodies. The tradespersons' rights committee, rest in peace. The Oil Stewardship Advisory Council, rest in peace. The Product Stewardship Advisory Group, rest in peace. The advisory group of the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority, rest in peace. The Plant Breeder's Rights Advisory Committee, rest in peace. The Development Allowance Authority, rest in peace. Perhaps most substantively from our point of view, the Corporations and Markets Advisory Committee, CAMAC, rest in peace. Some of them are redundant because other bodies have overtaken their roles, such as the tradespersons' rights committee, or the programs they administered have ceased, such as the Development Allowance Authority, and it is entirely appropriate that those bodies should be removed from the statute books. But it is important to note that not all were redundant in function, and so I want to provide a brief eulogy, if you like, for CAMAC, to illustrate the point.

The Corporations and Markets Advisory Committee was born in 1978, and through its life it had three incarnations. It started off as the Corporations and Securities Law Reform Council, and then in 1989 it was reborn as the Corporations and Securities Advisory Council. Around 2002, when the corporations powers were referred by the states to the Commonwealth, it was reborn as CAMAC, as it has been known until this bill passes. It was an expert advisory committee. I know experts and advice are out of fashion under this government, but it provided non-partisan advice, independent advice, to the government of the day. Indeed, oppositions throughout its time, have also drawn on its transparent, independent advice. It focused on corporations and financial markets, which are, of course, still important matters for governments to constantly pay attention to and, I believe, to receive transparent, expert advice on. In its life, it did play an important role. Some of its recommendations, even in more recent times, influenced governments in very important ways. For instance, there are the related party transactions and continuous disclosure rules—no small matters from a corporate governance point of view and in terms of ensuring as best as we possibly can as policymakers the integrity and efficient operation of the markets in this country. There are the reforms to takeover and insolvency laws, the establishment and operation of managed investment schemes, and the introduction of crowdsourced equity funding. Again, these are all important matters, which have been, I think, improved because of the independent advice from CAMAC.

Despite the importance, you would think, of these kinds of functions, the government decided early on in its term, when it was the Abbott government, before it became the Turnbull government—what is it at the moment? Abbott-Turnbull-Joyce-Chester government, depending on how things play out—

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