Bernie Ripoll (Oxley, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I present a supplementary explanatory memorandum to the bill and I ask leave of the House to move government amendments (1) to (13), as circulated, together.

Leave granted.

I move government amendments (1) to (13), as circulated, together:

(1) Schedule 1, page 3 (after line 16), after item 2, insert:

2A Section 7

  Insert:

  election commitment, in relation to a general election, means a policy that a Parliamentary party has publicly announced it intends to seek to have implemented after the election.

(2) Schedule 1, item 5, page 3 (lines 27 and 28), omit "publicly announced policies", substitute "election commitments".

(3) Schedule 1, item 10, page 5 (line 33), after "setting out", insert ", for each designated Parliamentary party".

(4) Schedule 1, item 10, page 6 (lines 1 to 10), omit paragraphs 64MA(1)(a) and (b), substitute:

(a) costings of all the election commitments of that party that the Parliamentary Budget Officer, in his or her best professional judgement, reasonably believes would have a material impact on the Commonwealth budget sector and Commonwealth general government sector fiscal estimates for the current financial year and the following 3 financial years; and

(b) the total combined impact those election commitments would have on the Commonwealth budget sector and Commonwealth general government sector fiscal estimates for the current financial year and the following 3 financial years.

(5) Schedule 1, item 10, page 6 (lines 11 to 13), omit note 1, substitute:

Note 1: The post-election report must be prepared in accordance with section 64MAA.

(6) Schedule 1, item 10, page 6 (after line 39), after subsection 64MA(4), insert:

(5) Within 3 days after the end of the caretaker period for the election, the Parliamentary Budget Officer must prepare, for each designated Parliamentary party, a list in writing of all the election commitments of that party that the Parliamentary Budget Officer, in his or her best professional judgement, reasonably believes would have a material impact on the Commonwealth budget sector and Commonwealth general government sector fiscal estimates for the current financial year and the following 3 financial years.

(6) In preparing the list of election commitments of a designated Parliamentary party under subsection (5), the Parliamentary Budget Officer must have regard to:

  (a) any list of policies given to the Parliamentary Budget Officer by the party under subsection (3); and

  (b) any public announcements made by the party before or during the caretaker period for the election.

However, the Parliamentary Budget Officer is not required to include any of those policies or public announcements in the list of election commitments prepared by the Parliamentary Budget Officer under subsection (5).

(7) As soon as practicable after preparing the list of election commitments of a designated Parliamentary party under subsection (5), but not later than 3 days after the end of the caretaker period for the election, the Parliamentary Budget Officer must:

  (a) give the list to the party; and

  (b) if the party has given the Parliamentary Budget Officer a list of policies under subsection (3) and the Parliamentary Budget Officer's list of election commitments is different from the party's list of policies—give the party a statement explaining the reasons for the difference.

(8) Within 3 days after a designated Parliamentary party receives the list of election commitments under subsection (7), the party must give the Parliamentary Budget Officer comments on the list.

(7) Schedule 1, item 10, page 7 (lines 1 to 16), omit subsections 64MA(5) and (6), substitute:

64MAA Requirements for post -election report of election commitments

(1) The Parliamentary Budget Officer must comply with this section in preparing the post-election report for a general election required by subsection 64MA(1).

(2) The Parliamentary Budget Officer may, but is not required to, take account of any comments given to the Parliamentary Budget Officer under subsection 64MA(8).

(3) The post-election report must:

  (a) set out any comments given to the Parliamentary Budget Officer by a designated Parliamentary party under subsection 64MA(8); and

  (b) if a designated Parliamentary party did not give the Parliamentary Budget Officer any comments under that subsection—include a statement to that effect.

(4) The post-election report:

  (a) must not include costings of election commitments other than:

     (i) those in the list prepared by the Parliamentary Budget Officer under subsection 64MA(5); and

     (ii) those referred to in any comments given to the Parliamentary Budget Officer under subsection 64MA(8); and

(b) in relation to each election commitment for which a costing is included in the report:

     (i) must include an explanation of the reason the Parliamentary Budget Officer decided that the commitment was an election commitment (as defined in section 7) and that a costing of the election commitment should be included in the report; and

     (ii) must state the source (or sources) of information from which the Parliamentary Budget Officer identified the election commitment.

(5) The post-election report does not have to include information that the Parliamentary Budget Officer considers should not be included because:

  (a) it is confidential commercial information; or

  (b) its disclosure in the report could prejudice national security.

Note: The post-election report must not include any information given to the Parliamentary Budget Officer by the Head of a Commonwealth body under subsection 64MB(4), if the Head requested that the information be kept confidential under subsection 64MB(5) (see subsection 64V(4A)).

(6) If the Parliamentary Budget Officer does not have sufficient information, or has not had sufficient time, to assess the cost of any election commitment, the Parliamentary Budget Officer may reflect this in the post-election report.

(8) Schedule 1, item 10, page 7 (lines 19 to 29), omit subsection 64MB(1), substitute:

(1) If the Parliamentary Budget Officer needs more information about an election commitment of a designated Parliamentary party for the purpose of preparing the post-election report required by subsection 64MA(1), the Parliamentary Budget Officer may ask any of the following for that information:

  (a) an authorised member of the Parliamentary party that made the election commitment;

  (b) any other person who the Parliamentary Budget Officer believes, on reasonable grounds, has been associated with the calculation, review or announcement of the financial implications of the election commitment.

(9) Schedule 1, item 10, page 8 (lines 25 and 26), omit paragraph 64MB(7)(b), substitute:

  (b) the policy is an election commitment that is to be included in the post-election report;

(10) Schedule 1, item 10, page 9 (lines 4 and 5), omit "a post-election report under section 64MA", substitute "the post-election report required by subsection 64MA(1)".

(11) Schedule 1, item 10, page 9 (lines 8 to 14), omit subsection 64MC(2), substitute:

(2) At least 48 hours before publicly releasing the post-election report under subsection (1), the Parliamentary Budget Officer must give each designated Parliamentary party a copy of the part of the report setting out the costings of that party's election commitments and the information required under paragraph 64MA(1)(b) in relation to those election commitments.

(12) Schedule 2, page 11 (after line 2), after the heading to Schedule 2, insert:

Parliamentary Service Act 1999

1A Paragraph 65A(2)(c)

  Omit "writing; and", substitute "writing.".

1B Paragraph 65A(2)(d)

  Repeal the paragraph.

(13) Schedule 2, item 1, page 11 (table item 9), omit the table item, substitute:

The bill we introduced on 14 March 2013 included a statutory obligation for political parties to provide a list of their election commitments to the PBO. Those lists were to form the basis of the election commitments that the PBO would cost in its post-election report. The reason for this approach was simple: political parties should be accountable and responsible for telling the public and the Parliamentary Budget Office what their election commitments are. We believed that requiring political parties to provide their list of election commitments to the PBO would be sufficient, that that would be enough to achieve what we all agree in this place should be the proper process. However, more work needs to be done here—and that is why we are moving these amendments—as political parties may choose to play games or obfuscate their responsibilities with the PBO's post-election report. This could mean that they do not provide the PBO with their list of election commitments at all or provide incomplete, ambiguous or even downright misleading information. This would be inexcusable. It would not be in keeping with the law and it would go completely against what the government is trying to achieve with these reforms.

So we are moving amendments to make sure that the parties now and into the future cannot mess around with the PBO's post-election report. The amendments I have moved will strengthen the approach outlined in the bill to determine the list of election commitments to be included in the post-election report. These amendments still rely on the fundamental premise that parties have to comply with their statutory obligations to provide a list of their election commitments to the PBO before polling day. However, they also mean that parties will be completely caught out if they only tell the PBO half the story, half-truths or nothing at all.

The amendments I have moved will mean that the PBO will be the ultimate arbiter of what election commitments are to be included in the post-election report. The PBO will prepare lists of election commitments the PBO then reasonably believes will have a material impact on the budget. The PBO's list will be based on the lists the parties gave to the PBO and the public announcements of the parties before and during the caretaker period. So the PBO will run the ruler over the lists that the parties gave them and reconcile them with the election commitments the parties have announced.

There may well be differences between the lists of election commitments parties give to the PBO and what the PBO consider those parties' election commitments are. As I mentioned before, this could be due to the fact that the lists do not fully reflect what parties said publicly. Where there are differences, the PBO will provide reasons if they diverge from the lists that the parties gave to them. Where a party chooses not to provide a list at all, the PBO will put together their own comprehensive list using their best professional judgement. Of course, parties will have the chance to comment on the PBO's list, and the PBO may take the parties' comments into account. Further, to be abundantly transparent, the PBO will be required to justify why each specific election commitment has been included in the post-election report.

Whilst we have preferred to rely on parties complying with their statutory obligations, we are now going further to ensure that the post-election report will expose anyone trying to evade budget scrutiny. The bill as introduced would allow the Australian Taxation Office to provide confidential taxpayer information to the PBO for the purpose of the PBO performing its statutory functions. However, the PBO does not require access to specific identifying information about taxpayers in order to carry out its statutory functions effectively. Like the Treasury, it needs only de-identified information to carry out its policy-costing work. For that reason, I am moving an amendment to provide that only information that does not include the name, contact details or ABN of any entity may be provided by the ATO to the PBO under this provision.

Finally, the government is moving an amendment on behalf of the Presiding Officers. The President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives have asked that I move an amendment to the Parliamentary Service Act 1999 to remove the requirement that the Parliamentary Budget Officer be a member of the Security Management Board. The President and the Speaker note that the PBO, unlike the other parliamentary departments, has no role in the management of security for the parliamentary precincts. I am advised that the Parliamentary Budget Officer himself agrees with this amendment, and I commend these amendments to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill, as amended, agreed to.