Helen Coonan (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts) Share this | Hansard source

I am not saying that I have the definitive answer here, but I would think that the fact that the Criminal Code does set out its own points of defence means it would prevail. I have some additional advice here, and I was correct. The purpose of the Criminal Code is to convict people of criminal offences, while the income tax law is for a different purpose, albeit a very important purpose about calculating taxable income, including what expenditure is allowed as a deduction. For that reason, we think that the income tax law is sufficiently robust but, because they have different purposes and because the Criminal Code relates to the conviction of criminal offences, those particular defences are coherent on their own. We think that, taken together, it is a coherent statement of obligations and potential defences.