Chris Ellison (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Justice and Customs) Share this | Hansard source

I give notice that, on the next day of sitting, I shall move:

(1)

That the provisions of paragraphs (5) to (8) of standing order 111 not apply to the following bills, allowing them to be considered during this period of sittings:

ACIS Administration Amendment (Unearned Credit Liability) Bill 2007

Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Amendment Bill 2007

Broadcasting Legislation Amendment Bill 2007

Family Law (Divorce Fees Validation) Bill 2007

Migration Amendment (Maritime Crew) Bill 2007

Superannuation Legislation Amendment (Simplification) Bill 2007

Income Tax Amendment Bill 2007

Income Tax (Former Complying Superannuation Funds) Amendment Bill 2007

Income Tax (Former Non-resident Superannuation Funds) Amendment Bill 2007

Income Tax Rates Amendment (Superannuation) Bill 2007.

(2)

That, after the motion for the second reading of the Superannuation Legislation Amendment (Simplification) Bill 2007 and four related bills has been moved, they may be taken together for their remaining stages with the Tax Laws Amendment (Simplified Superannuation) Bill 2006 and five related bills.

I also table statements of reasons justifying the need for these bills to be considered during these sittings and seek leave to have the statements incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The statements read as follows—

ACIS Administration Amendment (Unearned Credit Liability) Bill 2007

Purpose of the Bill

The bill amends the ACIS Administration Act 1999 (the Act) to enable the proper administration of the ACIS Scheme.

Reasons for Urgency

The ACIS Administration Act 1999 provides transitional assistance to encourage competitive investment and innovation in the Australian automotive industry. The assistance is provided to eligible recipients by way of duty credits. Duty credits are issued quarterly on the receipt of a claim from recipients. To facilitate the early issue of credits, claims are not validated at the time of issue, but subsequently through an audit process. Should it be found through audit that credits have been issued in respect of ineligible items, an Unearned Credit Liability (UCL) is issued to recover the credits which were incorrectly claimed. Section 94 of the Act provides the legislative basis for the recovery of such credits by the issue of a UCL. A recent ruling by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal has called into question the ability of Section 94 to be relied upon to recover such credits. It suggests that the Commonwealth cannot rely on these provisions to recover credits unless there was an arithmetical error involved in the calculation of credits issued. This ruling means that the Commonwealth could, in the future, be issuing credits to participants who have no entitlement to those credits, but there would be no ability to recover those credits.

The alternative would be for the Commonwealth to assure itself, through an audit process PRIOR to the issue of credits, that all credits were due to the recipient. Such a process would involve lengthy delays in the issue of credits, perhaps exceeding 12 months, given the complexities of the audit process and the number of recipients. Such delays could have serious consequences for the automotive industry and in particular the automotive supply chain, given that up to $500 million in credits per annum is provided through the ACIS Scheme. The loss of cash flow may mean businesses in the supply chain would suffer severe financial hardship and may fail. In a worst case scenario there may be sufficient failures to make the viability of the entire automotive sector problematic.

The proposed amendment would make it clear that the Commonwealth does have the ability to recoup credits which have been issued but to which the recipient was not entitled and would thus enable the ACIS Scheme to continue to provide credits to recipients in a timely manner. The urgency of the amendment relates to the need to clarify the Commonwealth’s ability to issue and recoup credits in time to continue the issue of credits to the automotive industry without disruption.

Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Amendment Bill 2007

Purpose of the Bill

The “first tranche” Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Bill (AML/CTF Bill) was passed in the 2006 Spring sittings of parliament. The AML/CTF Bill repealed and replaced much of the Financial Transaction Reports Act 1988 and better implemented parts of the revised (June 2003) Forty Recommendations of the OECD-based Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) and several of FATF’s Special Recommendations on Terrorist Financing.

The purpose of this bill is to make amendments to the legislation to ensure that it meets its stated intent.

Reasons for Urgency

It is essential that the amendments be introduced and passed in the 2007 Autumn sittings to maintain the integrity of the legislation package and to satisfy Australia’s international obligations (arising out of Australia’s membership of FATF) to upgrade anti-money laundering and counter terrorism financing measures.

Broadcasting Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 1) 2002

Purpose of the Bill

The bill amends section 212 of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 (the BSA) to ensure that persons who retransmit content provided by National Indigenous TV Limited (NITV Ltd) for transmission by Imparja Television on its channel 31 narrowcast service are exempted from the regulatory requirements of the BSA. The bill also amends the statutory licence scheme in Part VC of the Copyright Act 1968 to apply it to NITV Ltd content.

NITV Ltd has recently been established to aggregate and distribute Indigenous television content.

Reasons for Urgency

NITV Ltd expects the first of its programming to go to air in May 2007. The proposed amendments will need to be in place by that time to ensure that services that do no more than retransmit NITV Ltd programming do not contravene the regulatory requirements of the BSA or infringe copyright in the underlying broadcast material.

Family Law (Divorce Fees Validation) Bill 2007

Purpose of the Bill

In July 2005, the filing fee in the Federal Magistrates Court (FMC) for divorce applications under the Family Law Act was increased. The equivalent fee in the Family Court of Western Australia (FCWA) would normally have been increased to match the FMC fee. However, due to an oversight, this did not occur. The FCWA assumed the necessary amendment had been made to the Family Law Regulations 1984 (the Regulations) and began charging the increased fee without legal authority. An amendment to the Regulations (effective 9 October 2006) has since authorised the FCWA to charge a fee equivalent to that in the FMC.

The bill authorises the charging of the higher fee by the FCWA for the period 1 July 2005 to 9 October 2006. This is appropriate given that the higher fee was paid in other states and territories in this period.

Reasons for Urgency

It is important to validate the charging of the higher fee as soon as possible. Once attention is drawn to the lack of authority for the charging of the higher fee, there is potential for those who have paid the higher fee to seek to recover the difference between the higher fee and the authorised fee. Introduction and passage of the bill in the one sitting will reduce, as far as possible, the potential for unnecessary litigation concerning recovery of the unauthorised amount.

Migration Amendment (Maritime Crew) Bill 2007

Purpose of the Bill

The bill amends the Migration Act 1958 to provide that all foreign crew of non-military ships, including non-military ships being imported, must hold a Maritime Crew Visa while in Australia.

Reasons for Urgency

As an outcome of the Maritime Security Review, in November 2005 the government decided that the new maritime crew visa regime is to commence on 1 July 2007.

This is a $100 million government initiative to improve Australia’s border integrity involving the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC), the Australian Customs Service and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation.

The amendments seek to replace the Special Purpose Visa regime which currently applies to foreign crew of non-military ships upon entry to Australia. Currently foreign crew make no formal application for a visa before entering Australia and are granted a visa by operation of law when they enter Australia by virtue of their status as crew. The amendments will provide for a formal application process so that each foreign crew member may be subjected to an appropriate level of security checking before a maritime crew visa is granted. The introduction of the new visa process requires the building of the computerised systems governing the entry of foreign crew both in DIAC and in Customs who act as the agents of DIAC at the border, an appropriate level of consultation with shipping industry representatives, and in-depth training of all officials involved in the new application process including cross agency training of Customs and representatives of the shipping industry involved in Australia. Much of this requires considerable lead time to achieve. In addition, the new visa regime will have a critical dependency on a reasonably detailed regulatory framework to be developed following the passage of the primary legislation. Without this, the new process cannot be made to function at all.

Superannuation Legislation Amendment (Simplification) Bill 2007

Income Tax Amendment Bill 2007

Income Tax (Former Complying Superannuation Funds) Amendment Bill 2007

Income Tax (Former Non-resident Superannuation Funds) Amendment Bill 2007

Income Tax Rates Amendment (Superannuation) Bill 2007

Purpose of the Bills

The bills amend the taxation laws as part of the package of reforms to Australia’s superannuation system.

Reasons for Urgency

The measure is a high priority for the government. The bills need to be introduced to enable concurrent debate and passage with the Tax Laws Amendment (Simplified Superannuation) Bill 2006 which was introduced into Parliament on 7 December 2006.

Senator Milne to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes:

(i)

growing international concern about nuclear proliferation and recent speculation about a possible United States of America (US) or Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities,

(ii)

Australia is a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) which makes its decisions by consensus,

(iii)

the US-India nuclear cooperation deal would breach the guidelines of the NSG that restricts trade with non-nuclear-weapon states that do not accept full-scope International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards,

(iv)

exemptions from NSG guidelines would erode the credibility of the NSG’s effort to restrict nuclear trade to those states that meet global nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament standards, and

(v)

the next NSG meeting is in April 2007 and the US is expected to seek agreement to allow the US-India nuclear cooperation deal to proceed; and

(b)

calls on the Government to preserve the integrity of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty by blocking the US-India deal at the NSG meeting in April 2007 and ruling out the supply of uranium to India.

Senator Fielding to move on the next day of sitting:

That the following bill be introduced: A Bill for an Act to protect Jetstar from foreign ownership and ensure jobs and operations stay in Australia, and for related purposes. Qantas Sale (Keep Jetstar Australian) Amendment Bill 2007.

Senator Milne to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

welcomes the call from the electricity sector for a greenhouse gas emissions trading scheme to promote investor confidence;

(b)

notes that:

(i)

the purpose of an emissions trading scheme is to create an economically efficient mechanism to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and

(ii)

notes that international emissions trading is a key mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol;

(c)

rejects the McKibbin-Wilcoxen proposal because it fails to cap greenhouse gas emissions and creates an unacceptable risk that long-term emission permits will be over-allocated; and

(d)

calls on the Government to announce the rules of an emissions trading scheme by 2008, for commencement in 2010.

Senator Bartlett to move on the next day of sitting:

That the following matter be referred to the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Committee for inquiry and report by 9 May 2007:

All aspects of the Federal Government’s 10 point National Plan for Water Security, including:

(a)

whether it will return sufficient water to the Murray-Darling Basin to meet the environmental needs of the Murray-Darling Basin catchment; and

(b)

what mechanisms are in place to ensure farmers and the environment obtain maximum value from the funds expended.

Senator Eggleston to move on the next day of sitting:

That the time for the presentation of reports of the Environment, Communications, Information Technology and the Arts Committee be extended as follows:

(a)

Australia’s national parks—to 29 March 2007; and

(b)

Australia’s Indigenous visual arts and craft sector—to 12 June 2007.

Senator Johnston to move on the next day of sitting:

That the time for the presentation of the report of the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee on Australia’s public diplomacy be extended to 12 June 2007.

Senator Ferguson to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade be authorised to hold public meetings during the sittings of the Senate on Wednesday, 28 February 2007, and Wednesday, 21 March 2007, to take evidence for the committee’s inquiry into Australia’s trade with Mexico and the region.