Linda Reynolds (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on Senator Xenophon's Anti-Money Laundering Amendment (Gaming Machine Venues) Bill 2012. The government does not support this bill. This bill seeks to introduce amendments to existing legislation that will increase the regulatory demand on an already heavy regulated sector.

Electronic gaming machine venues, such as casinos, hotels and clubs, must already comply with strict obligations under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006. Depending on a venue's size, requirements under the existing act already include: having a program to identify, mitigate and manage money-laundering and terrorism-financing risk; identifying customers for transactions involving $10,000 or more; and reporting cash transactions of $10,000 or more. All gaming venues are already required to report suspicious matters to AUSTRAC.

The purpose of this bill is to amend the current act to lower the reporting threshold for gaming machine payments to $1,000. It also seeks to include the cashing of transferred cheques for amounts in excess of $1,000 in the definition of 'threshold transaction'. Under this bill these transactions would then have to be reported to AUSTRAC.

The government believes that the current regulatory framework, in place since 2006, provides adequate controls and mitigations for the risks of money laundering and that lowering the threshold to the level suggested would pose an unnecessary burden on gaming venues. During the passage of the original legislation, the appropriate threshold for reporting was extensively analysed. The government believes that this is an issue of balance and that the balance is currently struck in the right place. The outcome of that original analysis was to set the threshold at its current level of $10,000. There is simply no evidence that this needs to be amended, as currently proposed.

While we will not be supporting this bill, the government does take money laundering very seriously, and that is why Minister Keenan recently announced changes to the customer due diligence obligations of regulated entities. These changes are designed to strengthen Australia's anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism financing regime. The announced changes apply to electronic-gaming venues, and will increase transparency and customer identification processes.

The ongoing work of gaming venues in customer due diligence, reporting threshold transactions and suspicious matters is of central importance. The government knows this and understands this and is acting on it. We believe AUSTRAC already works closely and collaboratively with industry and holds regular meetings with both state gaming regulators and industry associations to ensure that matters of concern are discussed and actioned where necessary, and also that all obligations under the act are understood. AUSTRAC has run a number of awareness campaigns over the last few years to increase awareness of the risk of money laundering through the use of electronic-gaming machines. As a result of these campaigns there has been a significant increase in the number of suspicious matter reports. In 2013-14, there were 381 suspicious matter reports, with a total value of $10.1 million. Compare this to 2012-13, when there were only 135, with a total value of $3.4 million. This indicates that education and awareness campaigns are working and are already having a significant effect in identifying money laundering through electronic gaming machines. These crucial measures assist law enforcement agencies to detect and investigate possible money laundering and other criminal activity connected to gaming venues in Australia.

I want to also touch on the excellent work of AUSTRAC in this area. I was very heartened to hear Senator Xenophon acknowledge the wonderful job that the organisation is doing. AUSTRAC, as the primary body responsible for tracking money laundering within Australia, plays a significant role in ensuring the safety and security of all Australians. For many years I had very close involvement and association with AUSTRAC. I have seen first-hand the wonderful job that that organisation does on behalf of all Australians.

AUSTRAC's role is to protect the integrity of Australia's financial system and to contribute to the administration of justice through countering money laundering and terrorism. They do excellent work in conjunction with Australia's other law enforcement agencies to counter the financing of terror and organised crime. AUSTRAC continues to work collaboratively with businesses and law enforcement to assess money laundering threats in Australia. These joint efforts improve our ability to prevent, deter and prosecute money laundering.

The government, through the Attorney-General's Department, is also currently undertaking a statutory review of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006. This very important review is estimated to be complete early in the new year. It will follow an on-site visit and mutual evaluation by the Financial Action Task Force. The Financial Action Task Force is the world standard-setting organisation for anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism financing. Australia, pleasingly, is currently the president of the Financial Action Task Force. This already reflects our position as the world leader in anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism financing.

Contrary to Senator Xenophon's assertions of undue influence on the government in relation to this matter, the government does believe that the current regulatory framework provides adequate controls and mitigations for the risks of money laundering and that lowering the threshold to $1,000 would pose an unnecessary burden on gaming venues, especially those which are small business.