Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties, I present the committee's Report 226: Australia-Portugal tax treaty.

Report made a parliamentary paper in accordance with standing order 39(e).

by leave—I am pleased to make a statement on the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties's Report 226: Australia-Portugal tax treaty. The major treaty action considered in this report is the convention between Australia and the Portuguese Republic for the elimination of double taxation with respect to taxes on income and the prevention of tax evasion and avoidance. The treaty is a taxation agreement with Portugal aimed at eliminating the double taxation for residents of Australia and Portugal. It also aims to prevent tax evasion and avoidance and to strengthen economic ties between our two countries.

Portugal and Australia have a history of over 64 years of strong diplomatic relations. The two countries share a range of priorities, particularly the mutual multilateral institutions, and this agreement will further develop these links. The convention aims to promote closer economic cooperation between Australia and Portugal. It will provide tax certainty for Australian businesses seeking to expand into Portugal and for Australian taxpayers deriving income from Portugal. It will encourage trade between the two countries by reducing tax barriers, decreasing the cost to Australian businesses and enabling better access to Portuguese capital and technology.

In considering this convention, the committee held one public hearing where the Department of the Treasury gave evidence. Treasury emphasised the importance of strengthening ties with Portugal by creating a more favourable investment environment. This is the first such agreement with Portugal. The committee supports this convention and recommends that binding treaty action be taken.

This report before us also contains nine minor treaty actions for which no inquiries were conducted; six of these actions are amendments to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships.

They make minor changes to the convention aimed at preventing and minimising ship pollution in marine environments.

The changes include:

These six minor treaty actions are environmentally sound amendments that have minimal impact on industry.

Australia's acceptance of the amendments is consistent with our longstanding support for the protection of the marine environment and active support of the International Maritime Organization.

Two of the minor treaty actions in this report relate to the Agreement Establishing the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development 1990 and the Articles of Agreement of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development 1945.

And the final minor treaty action in this report amends the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, known as CITES.

CITES is an international agreement that aims to ensure that the international trade in wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival.

This minor treaty action updates appendix 3 of the convention to remove six previously listed species of turtle native to China.

The committee also resolved that binding treaty action be taken for all these minor treaties.

As this is likely to be the final report of the committee in this parliament, I would like to sincerely thank everyone who has been involved in inquiries and making submissions throughout the course of the past few years.

Your contributions have been extremely valuable and an important part of the process of examining and scrutinising treaties.

Treaties are a critical part of our engagement with other nations and for Australia's participation in the international community.

Thank you also to all the committee members for their diligence and hard work on a constantly busy committee, particularly the former chair, the member for Fremantle; and the deputy chair, the member for Herbert.

And finally I would like to thank the secretariat for their hard work over this term of parliament. It is a very busy committee, and we would not have been as successful without their hard work.

On behalf of the committee, I commend this report to the House.