Ron Boswell (Queensland, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

During the break, I consulted with the Clerk of the Senate, and the information I was given is that this bill will be regulated by disallowable instrument, and if that disallowable instrument is carried then the bill will be gutted—similar to what happened with the Australia Card. So I just want to put on notice that anyone who wants to take advantage of this tax break does so at their own peril, because my advice is that it would only require one side, either the government or the opposition, to support a disallowance motion and the bill would not be workable—very similar to what happened with the Australia Card. I want to put on record that anyone who goes out and takes advantage of this today, tomorrow or the next day might be buying a big fat lemon, and it may not be operable.

The Greens are opposed to this, the National Party are opposed to it and some people in the Liberal Party are opposed to it. It is going through a Senate inquiry and if that Senate inquiry divulges what I think it will divulge then I think both the government and the opposition will abandon this. I just want to warn people that, if they invest money in the next couple of days or the next couple of weeks, they do it at their own peril.