Ursula Stephens (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Science and Water) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Milne for that contribution. She articulated, as did Senator Murray from the Democrats, that the Tax Laws Amendment (Personal Tax Reduction and Improved Depreciation Arrangements) Bill 2006 falls very short in terms of tax reform. The issue raised by Senator Milne about our current account deficit—and it was raised in some of the interjections by Senator O’Brien—was really highlighted in the Senate Economic References Committee’s investigation into the relationship between the current account deficit and the growing levels of household debt in Australia.

Labor agree that there is certainly no vision in the budget for Australia’s productive future. Also, we acknowledge the challenges of climate change and energy demands in the future. Our problem is that this is a tax bill and Senator Milne’s amendments seek to amend the bill in a way that ties the energy efficiency commitments of industry to the depreciation measures in the bill. We are not convinced that that is an appropriate way in which to amend this tax bill. I am not actually sure that it can even constitutionally be done that way. We do not believe that it is good public policy to link the issue of energy audit findings to the depreciation arrangements within the bill, and therefore we will not be supporting the amendment.