Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

The government’s intention is to try to align the tax situation with the introduction, so there are three steps to minimise the impact. But a disallowable instrument works on the basis that it is legal. That is the way the parliament works. As I described before, one company chose to use the new accounting standard while I had a notice of motion on about disallowing it, and the court upheld that the process undertaken by the company was completely legal and the accounts did not have to be restated. The company were making a fairly major amount of money for themselves along that process. The alignment of the rebate process and the timing of it will see this potential danger become fairly minimal, in the government’s view. I am not suggesting for a moment that it will be zero. I am not trying to mislead any senator. I am not suggesting it will be a zero issue, but we believe that, with all these other measures, the likelihood of it happening will be minimal.