Katie Allen (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Treasury, as Australia's authoritative body responsible for economic policy, market regulation and federal budgeting, holds an immensely important role in the wider economy for our country. The Treasury Laws Amendment (2021 Measures No. 6) Bill 2021, before us today, seeks to amend the Treasury laws with respect to how to manage the Australian economy more efficiently and more strongly. The five schedules within this bill each act with intent to carefully regulate the economy so as to ensure fairness and consistency while maintaining our strong Liberal economic values.

The first schedule concerns the refund of large-scale generation shortfall charges under the Renewable Energy Target scheme. This scheme stands to encourage the additional generation of electricity from renewable sources to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the electricity sector. This scheme encourages the use of renewably generated energy sources by energy retailers and is crucial to Australia's adoption of renewables. Renewable energy power stations issue a certificate for every megawatt hour of power they generate. Energy retailers then purchase these certificates to meet the government's guidelines for renewable energy use. Each year the Clean Energy Regulator requires these retailers to surrender their certificates in order to ensure compliance with this ever-important policy. If the retailers fail to surrender sufficient certificates, they are required to pay a hefty shortfall fee. However, if these retailers later surrender the certificates, they are refunded this shortfall fee.

This amendment simply acts to ensure that businesses are not taxed on the shortfall charge refunds received. By unmuddying the water concerning this issue, the Morrison government ensures this anomalous situation does not occur. Ensuring energy retailers are not being incorrectly taxed, these savings will be passed directly on to consumers, ensuring that Australians are able to access clean, renewable energy at lower prices. Let me emphasise that the targets for renewable energy use are unchanged, and there will be no decreased penalties for noncompliance. The Morrison government is proud to maintain a hardline stance on this issue, recognising that renewable energy is crucial in Australia's action on climate change and a clean and renewable future.

The Morrison government is passionate about small business and within that the ongoing success of franchisees. We all know the local mums and dads who are dealing with franchisees and how important it is as a small business in a small community. This government is aware of the significant harm that can be caused to the lives and livelihoods of small business franchisees when acted upon unfairly and is enacting this legislation change to protect them.

The amendment before us today allows for greater protection for franchisees against potential exploitative behaviour by franchisors. Schedule 2 increases penalties under part IVB of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010, enacting a strong deterrent against breaches of code. This ensures that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission will be able to help protect prospective or vulnerable franchisees against exploitative behaviour. This bill is just one part of the Morrison government's greater commitment to the strength and stability of small businesses in Australia, a core tenet of liberalism and this government's action in the area.

Schedule 4 simply acts to strengthen the industry codes under this same act. Both corporations and individuals will still be regulated under the same codes. The amendment stands to provide additional legal certainly to all entities involved by validating pre-existing regulations. This amendment acts to ensure that both corporations and individuals can validly confer powers on third parties to a commercial relationship between industry participants. In doing so the Morrison government decreases legal risks to the Commonwealth as well as ensuring our industry codes are free from ambiguity, again strengthening the codes that the corporations need to follow.

In continued action by the Morrison government to support small businesses, schedule 3 of this bill acts to remove unnecessary red tape barring small APRA regulated superannuation funds, as well as self-managed superannuation funds, from operating efficiently. Self-managed super funds—and we know self-funded retirees have worked hard in order to make sure that they're able to live well in their later lives and not be dependent on government handouts—have previously been required to possess a costly actuarial certificate in order to calculate exempt current pensions incomes, even in the retirement period where the participants are merely drawing down on the value of their hard-earned superannuation portfolios. The Morrison government wishes to remove the red tape that forces trustees to acquire certificates. That investment of hard-earned money can be better used in the enjoyment of retirement after a long working life. By permitting funds to use the segregated method to calculate exempt current pension income, the redundant regulation requiring certificates is removed and these small and self-managed super funds are left to operate more freely and efficiently to the benefit of older Australians enjoying the fruits of a lifetime of labour.

Schedule 5 of this bill also surrounds superannuation and is of particular importance as it acts to improve the visibility of superannuation assets in family law proceedings. First announced in 2018 by the Morrison government as part of the Women's Economic Security Statement, this schedule makes it harder for individuals to underdisclose assets during separation proceedings. I'd like to acknowledge the great work of the Minister for Women's Economic Security, the Hon. Senator Jane Hume, for her work on this bill. Separated couples will be able to apply to the Family Court registries to request superannuation information of the other party held by the Australian Taxation Office.

This legislation allows separated couples to justly divide assets, alleviating the financial hardship that is often felt more by the female side of the partnership because, as we know, women are less likely to have superannuation nest eggs because of their caring duties in the home. We know that Australian women currently receive a third of the superannuation payout that men do, sitting at $37,000 compared to men's $110,000. Moreover, women tend to work fewer full-time hours than men, as they so often carry much of the burden of raising children. I'm pleased to say that in the modern world that is changing, but at the end of the day even in full-time positions women still earn less on average than men, with many losing crucial career developing years because they're raising children. Of course, that is their choice, but they are building their family and it's important that we support the economic security of women in Australia. As it stands, these women, and for that matter anyone having to go through separation, are not facing a fair battle throughout the proceedings, with it commonplace for individuals to hide their assets in an unfair attempt to unjustly split assets. The Morrison government views this as inappropriate and, as such, is acting with this amendment to protect all individuals going through separation so that there is a just and economically fair way of going through the proceedings. If someone is already coping with the emotional battle of separation then the least we can do is to provide peace of mind that one party will not be hung out to dry in the harsh winds of financial hardship that may disproportionately affect one member of that separation.

At the time of the announcement of this measure as part of the Women's Economic Security Package, it was estimated to have a cost of $120 million. We believe that to rectify this situation is important for family law disputes. Where individuals may have had to rely on long and costly legal action, including subpoenas and court orders, to receive this information in the past, this amendment acts to clear up the proceedings—not only to place a focus on the fairness in the division of assets but also on the timeliness of proceedings.

In closing, the schedules under the Treasury Laws Amendment (2021 Measures No. 6) Bill 2021 will allow the Australian economy to flow more freely and more fairly. With protections for small franchisee businesses under schedule 2 and the fair taxation of energy providers under schedule 1, through to helping people with their super, the Morrison government is enacting promises made under past budgets as a commitment to the Australian people for a brighter economic future. I commend this bill to the House.

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