Andrew Southcott (Boothby, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties I present the committee’s report entitled Report 73: Treaties tabled in February 2006.

Ordered that the report be made a parliamentary paper.

by leave—Report 73 contains the findings and recommendations of the committee’s review of six treaty actions tabled in parliament on 7 and 8 February 2006. I will comment on all the treaties reviewed.

The amendments to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals newly lists numerous endangered migratory species. This includes the basking shark, which was jointly nominated by the United Kingdom and Australia. As a range state for the basking shark, Australia is obliged to protect the migratory species and already meets its responsibilities in this regard through the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. The committee supports the joint nomination of the basking shark by Australia and the United Kingdom as a continuation of Australia’s efforts to protect sharks as well as a continuation of its broader efforts to protect migratory species.

The bilateral aviation safety agreement and the implementation procedures for airworthiness with the United States of America are effectively two treaties on which the committee has provided combined comment. The bilateral aviation safety agreement is an umbrella agreement that provides for cooperation with the United States of America in the areas of aircraft and environmental certification, maintenance and flight operation. The second treaty, relating to the development of implementation procedures for airworthiness under the agreement, details the technical processes that Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority and America’s Federal Aviation Administration will undertake in certifying, approving and overseeing a range of airworthiness activities, including the design and production of aeronautical products.

The protocol of amendments to the Convention on the International Hydrographic Organisation will improve the efficiency of the organisation by creating new structures and processes to improve corporate governance. This includes the establishment of an assembly, council, and finance committee. In addition, the amendments introduce voting procedures that will apply where consensus between member states cannot be reached and will make it easier for new states to join the International Hydrographic Organisation. Established in 1921, the International Hydrographic Organisation is an intergovernmental consultative and technical organisation that supports safety in navigation and the protection of the marine environment. Australia exercises its obligations under the convention through the Australian Hydrographic Service, which is part of the Royal Australian Navy.

The protocol amending the agreement with New Zealand for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income revises the exchange of information article of the existing agreement in line with the new OECD standard. In addition, the protocol inserts two new articles: assistance in the collection of taxes, and a most favoured nation article covering withholding taxes. The revision of the agreement with New Zealand will enhance Australia’s competitive and modern tax agreement network, ensure it remains relevant for emerging issues and improve the level of cooperation between the two jurisdictions.

The agreement with the government of Bermuda on the exchange of information with respect to taxes provides for the full exchange of information on criminal and civil tax matters between Australia and Bermuda. The agreement will help Australia to protect its revenue base, by allowing access to necessary offshore information, and to improve the integrity of the tax system by discouraging tax evasion, especially through tax havens. The agreement is modelled on the OECD’s tax information exchange agreement framework, which was formulated in response to eradicating harmful tax competition. The committee heard that around $A5 billion is moved out of Australia annually to tax havens. To help combat the problems associated with tax havens, the Australian Taxation Office, the Australian Crime Commission and the Australian Federal Police have commenced a major investigation into the use of offshore tax havens for alleged money laundering and tax evasion. The agreement is the first of its kind for Australia and the third such agreement to be signed in the world; it will aid investigators in the collection of evidence and in determining the extent and nature of tax evaded.

In conclusion, the committee believes that the treaties reviewed in Report 73 are in Australia’s interest and should be ratified. I commend the report to the House.

Kim Wilkie (Swan, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—The report of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties entitled Report 73: Treaties tabled in February 2006 contains a review of the following treaty actions: amendments to appendices I and II of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, the bilateral aviation safety agreement and the implementation procedures for airworthiness with the United States of America, the protocol of amendments to the Convention on the International Hydrographic Organisation, the protocol amending the agreement with New Zealand for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and the agreement with the government of Bermuda on the exchange of information with respect to taxes. Amendments to appendices I and II of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species will, as it has been stated, allow Australia to extend its conservation of migratory species to those species added to appendices I and II of the convention. In this case the basking shark will be listed on both appendices to the convention, which will oblige Australia to ensure its protection in Australian waters.

The bilateral aviation safety agreement will reduce barriers for Australian aviation industry entry to the United States of America. In addition, the agreement will reduce costs imposed on the aviation industry by technical inspections, evaluations and testing and will serve to promote aviation safety. The implementation procedures for airworthiness under the agreement provide for cooperation between the US and Australia in areas such as design approval activities, export airworthiness approval activities and technical assistance between authorities. They are the first technical implementation procedures to be developed under the agreement. Whilst there was a concern that aircraft may be flown to America to be serviced, rather than that operation being done in Australia, we were assured that would not be the outcome of this agreement.

The protocol of amendments to the Convention on the International Hydrographic Organisation will serve to improve corporate governance within the organisation. In turn, Australia will benefit from the expected efficiency improvement through a subsequent improvement in internationally accepted nautical charting products beneficial to maritime trade and defence activity in Australia’s area of maritime interest. The protocol amending the agreement with New Zealand for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income, as with Australia’s other such tax agreements, will allocate taxing rights between parties so that Australian taxpayers investing offshore will not be subject to double taxation. In addition to the Australia-New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement, this agreement will serve to signify the importance Australia places on closer economic and administrative relations with New Zealand. Under the protocol, Australia is obliged to:

• exchange information relevant for administration or enforcement of domestic law concerning all federal tax laws administered by the Commissioner of Taxation;
• treat information received through exchange as secret in the same manner as information obtained under its own domestic law;
• collect information if requested by New Zealand even where it is not needed for Australia’s own taxation purposes;
• assist New Zealand in the collection of revenue claims where amounts owed in respect of taxes of every kind and description are imposed under New Zealand law;
• where requested by New Zealand, collect a revenue claim owed to New Zealand as if it were an Australian revenue claim.

Either party, in line with OECD model guidelines, may not supply information where a trade or business secret may be disclosed or disclosure of information is contrary to public policy, such as a breach of human rights policy. The agreement paves the way for entering into similar agreements with other jurisdictions that have committed to work with OECD member countries under the auspices of the Global Forum on Taxation. The information exchange model agreement creates a process for establishing a global level playing field with a high standard of transparency in the equitable information exchange on tax matters between OECD member and non-member countries. In relation to the agreement with the government of Bermuda on the exchange of information with respect to taxes, it is a welcome addition that this move will help to clamp down on tax evasion havens. We support this particular agreement. As with the committee chair’s comments, I commend the report to the House and thank the secretariat for their ongoing work for the committee.

Harry Jenkins (Scullin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

That the House take note of the report.

The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.