Stephen Jones (Whitlam, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the requested amendments be agreed to.

This bill has come back to us from the Senate, and I don't intend to delay the House any longer than I absolutely need to. It is urgent that the matter be dealt with this afternoon and before the House gets up, because there are provisions within this bill that relate to tax relief for persons who received grants from the government after Tropical Cyclone Seroja. If this bill doesn't pass through the House, they'll incur a tax liability that nobody on this side of the House wants to occur.

The bill comes back to us in substantially the same form as it was presented to the House by the government, with one amendment, which I'll explain to members of the House now. It removes a long-standing exemption in our corporation laws which has existed since 1995 that exempts certain large private companies that existed prior to 1995 from public disclosure of an audited annual report to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and the provision of tax data to the Australian tax office, which could then be made public.

During question time a number of questions were asked of the Prime Minister and the government which went to the importance of transparency in corporate affairs. I'd expect, given the tenor of those questions, that members of the coalition will rise and support the government in removing these exemptions from corporations and taxation law. They go to the heart of transparency. They ensure that all large private companies are treated in exactly the same way. They must present to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission an audited copy of an annual report, and they must provide certain information to the tax commissioner, which would be treated in the same way as any other private company's tax information. These are simple, straightforward amendments. They weren't in the government's original bill but they are, word for word, a reflection of amendments that Labor moved in opposition on numerous occasions.

I want to pay tribute to the work for the member for Fenner, the now assistant minister to the Treasurer, for the tireless work that he has put into ensuring that these issues were a part of public consciousness and public debate here. I also pay tribute, of course, to former senator Rex Patrick, who moved them numerous times through the course of the last parliament. I commend the bill and the amendments to the House.

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