Stuart Robert (Fadden, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

The opposition rises to support the government's Treasury Laws Amendment (2022 Measures No. 5) Bill 2022 and to ensure it has an expeditious route through the House. For those with great interest in tax matters like me and the minister opposite, the income tax law allows tax deductions for taxpayers who make a donation of $2 or more to a registered deductible gift recipient. To be eligible to be a deductible gift recipient, an organisation needs to fall within one of the general divisions set out in division 30 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997, or be listed by name in the division. It can be done by the charities commission or indeed be set out by law in what is generally a tax law amendment bill. It's a common practice that governments of all persuasions have done from time to time. Many of the organisations that are listed here for DGR status in this bill were put into the budget by the previous government, so it is only appropriate that this method is done. The coalition supports what the minister is doing here.

Keep in mind that the deductible gift recipient list was a previous schedule to Treasury Laws Amendment (2022 Measures No. 4) Bill 2022, but TLAB4 is taking its time being debated in the normal course of affairs and won't be done until next year. The government has separated this out. I simply say to the government: you could have done this wrong. The government could have done this anytime over the last six months. It could have simply put together a quick TLAB and put it through. Putting through TLAB4 and suddenly panicking because it won't get through shows a Treasury team that is not on top of its game. I say to the Treasury team: these things are important. They're retrospective, so none of these organisations miss out per se—the time taken through the parliament won't adversely impact them from the date at which DGR starts—but many Australian taxpayers may not provide donations until the DGR status come through, unsure as to whether it will pass parliament, and that may have a deleterious effect or impact upon donations. All of this could have been avoided if the government had prioritised this earlier.

Tax law amendment bills are very, very simple. I think I did 31 bills in nine months as an assistant Treasurer. We know how to move bills through a House. But the government is focused on other matters—matters they did not take to elections. They're focused on watering down transparency for superannuation, and a whole bunch of other stuff. I say to the government: these things matter. There's no question the opposition will support you and be responsible because we understand they matter, but it's important that the government prioritise this type of legislative work, not legislation that they didn't take to an election or legislation that is not urgent.

I congratulate those organisations that will be receiving their DGR status, many of them committed to by the coalition—the Melbourne Business School, the Leaders Institute of South Australia, St Patrick's Cathedral Melbourne Restoration Fund, the Jewish Education Foundation, the Australian Education Research Organisation, Australians for Indigenous Constitutional Recognition, the Sydney Chevra Kadisha—which is a charity that attends to Jewish burials to ensure they're undertaken in accordance with the faith precepts—and the Australian Women Donors Network. The Mt Eliza Graduate School of Business and Government has ceased its operation and activities, therefore this is a move to ensure that they no longer require it to be provided. I wish all those organisations the very best as they seek to serve Australians, and we look forward to supporting the minister and his deliberation.

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