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

I thank the member for Mackellar for his eloquent contribution to the public discourse of this bill. I rise to support the Corporations Amendment (Meetings and Documents) Bill 2021. The changing world is led by the changes of business, and the legislation passed in this place needs to keep up with this fast-paced environment. As someone who has worked in the real world, outside of this place, I know how frustrating it can be when legislation does not keep pace with the real world. But the bill before us today stands to recognise this, understanding that regulations forcing business to hold in-person meetings and sign documents by hand are outdated and that a technology-minded approach allows for easier running of companies.

This bill reduces the regulatory burden on Australian businesses, allowing our companies to operate more efficiently and more competitively. And, in a post-COVID economy, speed and efficiency are going to be what helps the Australian economy recover. We need our businesses to be globally competitive. The pump-primed economy that the Morrison government has delivered to Australia means consumers are ready to spend as we move into a post-COVID economy.

This bill serves to allow companies to hold hybrid meetings, with shareholders either attending in person or remotely, and to use technology to execute and sign relevant documents. In May of last year an amendment of the Treasury laws under Treasury Laws Amendment (2021 Measures No. 1) Act 2021 allowed companies and registered schemes to hold virtual meetings and electronically sign and send documents, an amendment which serves to continue until 31 March next year. Of course, this was due to restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic and was referred to as 'temporary relief'. This bill serves to make the change permanent as well as some further modifications to provide even greater flexibility and technology-neutral provisions.

I'm a bit of a tech head, I would say. I believe healthtech, smart tech and new energy climate tech are going to help lead this country to a brighter future. This bill is going to be very helpful as a technology-neutral provision and will help an outcome focused approach to the introduction of legislature as opposed to a technology based approach. This is an example of how COVID has provided the world with an opportunity to do things differently. In fact, in 2021 I think the most popular word that I heard was 'pivot'. The world was pivoting to doing things in a new way.

Companies have obligations under the Corporations Act 2002 in relation to meetings and documents. This bill serves to reduce regulatory burden, as traditional means of holding meetings physically, sending documents in hard copy and executing documents physically no longer need to be adhered to. Of course we're in favour of a more streamlined and efficient approach of utilising technology. Instead, technology-neutral laws give the option to meet obligations using technology which makes conducting business quicker, simpler and more cost effective.

The Morrison government has been considered in the writing of this bill, with three options examined—firstly, allow the temporary relief to end with no further legislature on this issue; secondly, make the temporary relief permanent; and thirdly, and ultimately the pathway this government has taken, make the temporary relief permanent but modify and improve the legislation to benefit the businesses of this country. This third option has incorporated broad stakeholder feedback to ensure that this government's legislation is informed by the very people it acts to serve. This option was selected so that where the statutory requirements can be met using digital technologies the law will allow companies to do just that. Moreover, there is a provision that will ensure that a review of the effectiveness of the legislative reforms will be undertaken in two years from commencement to ensure that this legislation is serving its purpose.

While this bill broadly serves to extend existing legislation, there are numerous new features also included. The government has determined these features to be beneficial through accessing the stakeholder feedback that it had undertaken, because this government understands that legislation must be motivated by the requirement for real change. This government understands that industry is core to Australia.

Make no mistake: this bill has broad importance. In fact, an estimated $430 million per year for 10 years will be saved by this reform. You might say, 'How can this be?' Well, we all know the old adage that time is money, and businesses saving time allows for businesses to work more efficiently and therefore save on costs. Decision-makers will no longer be forced to travel extensively simply to fill the archaic requirements of hand-signed documents. I know that the passage of flights between Melbourne and Sydney is one of, if not the, busiest air routes in the world, and that is because Melbourne and Sydney are the financial centres in Australia. We will possibly see less movement along the air passage because of this bill today.

This bill serves to allow businesses to streamline in the way they should be allowed to: to not focus on printing paperwork and signing it, but to designate their ingenuity to productive business activities—producing goods and services. That's what this side of parliament stands for; we stand for supporting businesses to prosper. We understand businesses are the backbone of the economy, and enabling those businesses to flourish, to function efficiently, means the economy will function efficiently, the economy will be strong and Australia will prosper. That prosperity enables us, therefore, to invest in the essential infrastructure, hospitals, schools and climate action that this country needs.

The benefits of this bill cannot be limited just to efficiency, however. The bill also works to increase accessibility of the workplace to all Australians. Gone are the times when staying at home caring for children meant an end to career aspirations. In fact, at a roundtable forum at which I was speaking, a very eminent businessman was asked what he thought was the most important outcome from COVID, from a business activity point of view, and he made the comment that he thought the future would mean a more flexible time for Australians in the workplace and the ability to work from home. My response to that was that it would be an increase in flexibility for men to work from home, since I think it's pretty reasonable to say that women have been leading the way for some time with regard to flexible workplaces and working from home. With the government recognising this, women especially are now more supported in the workplace than ever, with the comfort of increased accessibility to business activities. In fact, workplace participation is of crucial importance to the Morrison government, and small steps like this will lead to a more equal playing field in the future.

On top of this bill, we've seen similar virtual technologies find great success. Most notably, we've seen that, with the global pandemic, people have moved to using telehealth here in Australia. That's something that I think is well and truly a great success story, not just here in Australia but right around the world. Since 2011, in fact, phone and video calls with medical professionals have been available in Australia, helping to ensure that people in regional and remote Australia have access to high-quality health care. As a former medical professional myself, I've certainly used telehealth frequently, but its use hasn't had the uptake that you would hope for. What I would say is that, with COVID, the pivot to the use of telehealth has been enormously beneficial to people in Australia.

At the beginning of COVID, we found that it allowed medical professionals who may not have had access to PPE, or personal protective equipment, in the early stages of the COVID pandemic to work safely via the telehealth Zoom line. This meant that, when we were having shortages because of supply issues with PPE around the world, we could keep our healthcare professionals safe in the early stages of the COVID pandemic. It also meant that people could dial in more easily and efficiently for their scripts and save time so they wouldn't have to take half a day off work and sit in a medical doctor's office while waiting for their appointment. So the enormous benefits of telehealth have been made clear not just in regional areas but also for those who live in cities, which can be congested. You no longer have to wait for a doctor if you can access a telehealth care line. The COVID-19 pandemic has served to illuminate the need for such services, with 88,251 practitioners delivering 79.6 million telehealth services to 15.7 million patients since March of last year. This is an enormous change in the way that digital health has helped Australian patients.

Even this very parliament has used video teleconferencing to aid its operation. Of course, I'm sure we are all well and truly Zoomed out, but nonetheless it has allowed important work to go ahead despite the COVID pandemic. This bill serves to expand accessibility of operations in the sphere of business, as has already been done in the areas we've talked about, health care and politics.

Setting aside the immense savings born out of efficiency, this bill stands to reaffirm the Morrison government's commitment to Australian business—to listen to business, to understand what will help them and then, most importantly, to act and to deliver on their behalf. A government like ours is rooted in making sure we are attuned to the changing world. It is a government that is proving yet again an ability to adapt, in ways that benefit not just businesses but all Australians, to ensure our future prosperity.

COVID-19, of course, has been a great tragedy, but it's also been a catalyst for change—a catalyst that Australians are embracing with enthusiasm to pivot to new ways of doing things. It's opened doors for more transparent and accessible business operations. It is now our opportunity to take advantage of the positives we've discovered in light of the virtual world that we've lived with over the last two years.

This bill serves a simple purpose. It allows businesses on Australian soil to run more efficiently and be more competitive by removing red tape that has been limiting their operations. Legislation passed in this place must keep up with the real world. The bill before us today is yet another example of the Morrison government's awareness of issues faced by Australian companies and our commitment to supporting businesses in this country. This bill reinforces the temporary relief provided by the government, turning this into legislation that will be a legacy for the future. On this basis, I commend the bill to the House.

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