Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Social Housing and Homelessness) Share this | Hansard source

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

That the provisions of paragraphs (5) to (8) of standing order 111 not apply to various bills, as set out in the list circulated in the chamber, allowing them to be considered during this period of sittings.

Business Names Registration (Application of Consequential Amendments) Bill 2011

Corporations (Fees) Amendment Bill 2011

Deterring People Smuggling Bill 2011

Extradition and Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation Amendment Bill 2011

Higher Education Support Amendment Bill (No. 2) 2011

National Health Reform Amendment (Independent Hospital Pricing Authority) Bill 2011

Parliamentary Service Amendment (Parliamentary Budget Officer) Bill 2011

Personal Property Securities Amendment (Registration Commencement) Bill 2011

Social Security Amendment (Student Income Support Reforms) Bill 2011

Social Security Legislation Amendment (Family Participation Measures) Bill 2011

Tax Laws Amendment (2011 Measures No. 8) Bill 2011 and the Pay As You Go Withholding Non-compliance Tax Bill 2011

I 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—

BUSINESS NAMES REGISTRATION (APPLICATION OF CONSEQUENTIAL AMENDMENTS) BILL 2011

Purpose of the Bill

To clarify the application of the consequential amendments to other Commonwealth Acts that were included in the Business Names Registration (Transitional and Consequential Provisions) Act 2011.

Reasons for Urgency

The National Business Names Registration System forms part of the Council of Australian Governments' Seamless National Economy reform agenda. The National Business Name Registration Legislative Package, which establishes a National Business Names Registration System, received Royal Assent on 3 November 2011.

That package of legislation included:

The Business Names Registration (Application of Consequential Amendments) Bill 2011 (Application Bill) will clarify that many of the consequential amendments in the Transitional Act will apply on the date that the National Business Names System commences.

The Application Bill needs to be enacted before the first proclamation of the Business Names Registration Act, which is due to take place in late March 2012, to allow the transitional provisions to take effect before the commencement of the National Business Names Registration System.

CORPORATIONS (FEES) AMENDMENT BILL

Purpose of the Bill

The purpose of the Bill is to provide for a more equitable and robust cost recovery regime for the supervision of securities exchange markets, by enabling the charging of market participants in addition to market operators in relation to the performance by ASIC of its market supervision function.

Reasons for Urgency

The current fees regulations, Corporations (Fees) Regulations 2001 (which are made under the Corporations (Fees) Act 2001), reflect an interim cost recovery arrangement only. This arrangement was intended to be reviewed in light of a new market operator commencing operations. It is anticipated that the first new market operator will commence operations in the second half of 2011.

This amendment needs to come into effect as soon as possible to allow sufficient time to develop the new fees regulations. It would be preferable for the new fees regulations to be in place before competition between securities exchange markets commences.

DETERRING PEOPLE SMUGGLING BILL

Purpose of the Bill

The Deterring People Smuggling Bill will ensure that Australia's people smuggling offences remain effective.

The bill will insert a clarifying section into Subdivision A of Division 12 in Part 2 of the Migration Act 1958 to clarify the phrase no lawful right to come to Australia means that a non citizen who does not have visa that is in effect, and who does not fall within one of the exceptions to section 42 of the Migration Act, does not have a lawful right to come to Australia for the purposes of the people smuggling offences in the Migration Act.

Accordingly, people smuggling offences will continue to be interpreted in accordance with the intention of the Parliament in 1999 as applying where a person organises or facilitates the entry, or proposed entry, of another person into Australia, where that person had, or has, no lawful right to come to Australia under domestic law.

The Bill will not affect the rights of individuals seeking protection or asylum. The clarification will operate retrospectively from December 1999, and apply to offences committed or suspected to have been committed from that time.

Reasons for Urgency

These amendments are necessary to ensure that the provisions operate in accordance with the intention of the Parliament when it enacted and amended people smuggling offences in the Migration Act.

EXTRADITION AND MUTUAL ASSISTANCE IN CRIMINAL MATTERS LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL 2011

Purpose of the Bill

The Bill will make legislative amendments to streamline and modernise extradition and mutual assistance processes. Amendments will be made to the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act 1987 to:

Amendments will also be made to the Extradition Act 1988 to:

Amendments will be made to both Acts to enable Federal Magistrates to perform functions under the Acts, to clarify privacy and disclosure provisions and to introduce grounds of refusal if a person may be prejudiced by reason of his or her sex or sexual orientation.

Reasons for Urgency

This Bill represents the first major reforms to Australian extradition and mutual assistance legislation since they were first introduced over 20 years ago. Amendments in the Bill will make important updates to equip Australian authorities with the law enforcement tools they need to cooperate effectively with their international counterparts to investigate and prosecute crime in the modern technological age. Following two stages of extensive consultation, passage of the Bill in the Spring 2011 sittings will implement important updates and improvements to the extradition and mutual assistance regimes. It will also allow law enforcement authorities earlier access to these important tools.

The Bill also introduces efficiencies to the extradition process. The timely passage of the Bill will allow these amendments to be implemented sooner; potentially reducing the number of delays, including the amount of time a person spends in custody, in new and ongoing extradition cases.

HIGHER EDUCATION SUPPORT AMENDMENT BILL (NO. 2)

Purpose of the Bill

The bill amends the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (HESA) to implement 2011-12 Budget measures and update indexed grant amounts. The bill also amends HESA by clarifying that Australian citizens enrolled in Australian providers are only entitled to Commonwealth supported places (CSPs) and will only have access to HECS-HELP, FEE-HELP and VET FEE-HELP schemes when they are enrolled primarily at an Australian campus.

Reasons for Urgency

The indexed grant amount update is required for 2011. All other measures have effect from 1 January 2012.

Students need to be advised in advance of changes to arrangements affecting their student contributions for 2012 and HELP debts. The reduction in the HECS HELP up-front discount will require some students to pay more of their student contribution amount.

The maximum grant amount under Section 30-5 for 2011 must be increased to cover the total required funding for 2011 payments. Maximum payment amounts under Sections 41-45 and 46-40 and all other amounts under Part 5-6 of HESA are amended on an annual basis to reflect indexation and other variations.

There is ambiguity in HESA about its application to Australian citizens studying at the overseas campuses of Australian universities. Given the move to a demand driven system as of 1 January 2012, the Department needs to ensure that CSPs and access to HELP schemes are offered in line with the Government's policy intentions.

NATIONAL HEALTH REFORM AMENDMENT (INDEPENDENT HOSPITAL PRICING AUTHORITY) BILL

Purpose of the Bill

The bill amends the National Health Reform Act 2011 (once enacted) to establish the Independent Hospital Pricing Authority (IHPA).

Reasons for Urgency

Through the 13 February 2011 Heads of Agreement – National Health Reform, COAG agreed to the introduction from 1 July 2012 of a national approach to activity based funding (ABF), and that public hospital services will be funded, wherever possible, on a national efficient price for each public hospital service provided to public patients. The national efficient price is to be set by the IHPA.

The National Health Reform Agreement provides further details of new funding arrangements. Under that Agreement the IHPA is to be established permanently by 31 December 2011.

The IHPA also needs to be established as soon as possible to undertake work required to meet the 1 July 2012 deadline for the new funding arrangements for Australian hospitals. Passage of the legislation in the Spring sittings will accommodate the administrative arrangements necessary to establish the agency. This will include appointing the board, recruiting the CEO, organising accommodation, recruiting specialist staff, developing business practices and support services.

Passage in Spring will also provide time to put in place strong governance and mature technical capabilities to support arrangements for activity based funding. This is critical to ensure funds are spent transparently and accountably on efficiently delivering services to public patients through public hospitals.

PARLIAMENTARY SERVICE AMENDMENT (PARLIAMENTARY BUDGET OFFICER) BILL

Purpose of the Bill

The bill would establish the office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer and the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) and amend the Charter of Budget Honesty Act 1998 to clarify the role of the Department of the Treasury and the Department of Finance and Deregulation with respect to the costing of election commitments during the caretaker period.

Reasons for Urgency

The Government committed in its post-election agreements with the Australian Greens and Independent MPs to the establishment of a PBO. Legislation establishing the office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer and the PBO, and consequential amendments to the Charter of Budget Honest Act 1998, is required to be introduced and passed in the 2011 Spring sittings to fulfil these commitments.

PERSONAL PROPERTY SECURITIES AMENDMENT (REGISTRATION COMMENCEMENT) BILL

Purpose of the Bill

The bill amends the definitions of migration time and registration commencement time in the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (the Act) to remove the legislative imperative for these events to occur by a certain time.

Currently the migration time must be no later than the first day of the month which is 25 months after the month in which the Act received the Royal Assent, and the registration commencement time must be no later than the first day of the month which is 26 months after the month in which the Act received the Royal Assent. The Act received the Royal Assent on 14 December 2009, which means the migration time and the registration commencement time must be no later than 1 January 2012 and 1 February 2012, respectively. The Attorney-General (as the relevant Minister under the Act) may determine an earlier time for both the migration time and the registration commencement time.

The bill amends the Act so that the Attorney-General may determine the migration time and the registration commencement time to occur at any time.

Reasons for Urgency

The PPS Register is a significant component of the new PPS reforms, and it is not possible for the Act to commence operating without the online system. All components of the online Personal Property Securities Register are either completed or well advanced. The first round of user acceptance testing, which commenced on 9 August 2011, identified significant issues with the system.

Those issues have been addressed, but a second phase of user acceptance testing is required and is currently being planned with industry. Until that phase is concluded, it cannot be certain that other critical activities such as migration of data from the existing registers (including the ASIC Register of Company Charges, and the various State registers of encumbered vehicles and vehicle securities registers) could occur within the current timeframes in the Act.

After the conclusion of this second phase of user acceptance testing, there will be few or no Parliamentary sitting days left before the end of 2011, and before the Act requires the new PPS regime to commence operating in early 2012.

SOCIAL SECURITY AMENDMENT (STUDENT INCOME SUPPORT REFORMS) BILL

Purpose of the Bill

The bill responds to recommendations of the Review of Student Income Support Reforms.

Reasons for Urgency

The Government announced on 21 February 2011 that a comprehensive review of its package of student income support reforms would be brought forward by 12 months. The Review of Student Income Support Reforms reported to the Minister for Tertiary Education on 8 July 2011. Any new eligibility arrangements eliminating regional eligibility distinctions for student income support will be implemented from 1 January 2012.

In order that the measures in this bill can be implemented from 1 January 2012, the bill needs to be passed within the 2011 Spring sittings. Timely passage of the bill will provide certainty for students about the income support available in 2012 and will allow sufficient time for Centrelink to implement the measures.

SOCIAL SECURITY LEGISLATION AMENDMENT (FAMILY PARTICIPATION MEASURES) BILL

Purpose of the Bill

The bill amends the Social Security Act 1991 and the Social Security (Administration) Act 1999 to implement the teen parent measures. This measure was announced in the 2011 12 Budget and aims to reduce the risk of lifelong disadvantage suffered by teen parents due to poorer education outcomes.

The amendments are needed to ensure that teen parents can be required to enter and comply with employment pathway plans, and attend interviews to discuss those plans, and be subject to suspension of payments for non-compliance with these requirements.

Reasons for Urgency

Passage of the bill in the 2011 Spring sittings will ensure the teen parent measure can be implemented from 1 January 2012 as announced by the Prime Minister.

TAX LAWS AMENDMENT (2011 MEASURES NO. 8) BILL 2011 AND PAY AS YOU GO WITHHOLDING NON-COMPLIANCE TAX BILL 2011

Purpose of the Bill

This bills will:

Reasons for Urgency

The reasons for urgency: