Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation) Share this | Hansard source

I think the senator did refer to the legislative regime of state-based cooperative law. Again I make the point that the not-for-profit commission bill—the ACNC Bill—which was passed, does establish a regulatory framework that could be extended to all NFPN entities, including cooperatives, in the future. Initially it does only relate to tax-endorsed charities.

We are also progressing, through the COAG Legislative and Governance Forum on Consumer Affairs, cooperatives national law, which I think is the sort of harmonised approach that the senator referred to. That is subject to an agreement with the states and territories, as he flagged. One sector in which the government has ensured a range of policies to facilitate cooperatives is the banking sector, where the government's package has sought to facilitate the competitive power of Australia's credit unions— (Time expired)