Nick Xenophon (SA, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

Don't taunt me, Senator Canavan. I just want to get on with it. We will never know whether we could have got a better deal. My preference was to have got a better deal, but I am not going to engage in who is to blame—I do not think that is helpful. I want to understand this. In the context of general purpose accounting, which is a real issue of concern, this is about companies with turnover of a billion dollars or more—the Googles, the Apples, the Microsofts—which for many years have been getting away with special purpose accounting where they give very little information about transfer pricing and about a whole range of measures, where they simply get away with blue murder by saying as little as possible about their finances. I moved the amendment; it was supported by the Australian Labor Party, the Australian Greens and a number of my crossbench colleagues. That passed and this is one of the amendments that is in contention.

From the brief discussion I have had this morning with government advisers in relation to this, the Australian Greens, through Senator Di Natale, will be moving an amendment relating to general purpose accounting, but it will be different in some respects. It will be different in respect of the reporting requirement. Instead of going to the ATO, it will go to ASIC. I do not have a problem with that but I do have a series of questions to ask about it.