Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

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 statement s read as follows—

STATEMENT OF REASONS FOR INTRODUCTION AND PASSAGE

IN THE 2016 AUTUMN SITTINGS

BUSINESS SERVICES WAGE ASSESSMENT TOOL PAYMENT SCHEME AMENDMENT BILL

Purpose of the Bill

The bill will increase payments under the Business Services Wage Assessment Tool Payment Scheme from 50 per cent to 70 per cent of the difference between the actual wage paid to the eligible person and the amount they would have been paid under the productivity-only component of the Business Services Wage Assessment Tool, and make associated amendments to improve the payment process.

The bill will also extend all relevant scheme dates by 12 months so people have more time to register for the scheme and submit applications.

The amendments will give effect to a recently mediated settlement agreement between the Commonwealth and the Applicant in a representative proceeding in the Federal Court of Australia (Duval-Comrie v the Commonwealth VID 1367/2013). If the bill is passed and the terms of the settlement agreed by the Federal Court, the representative proceeding will cease.

Reasons for Urgency

The payment scheme, as amended by this bill, is the method agreed by the parties to settle the representative proceeding.

Passage in the Autumn sittings would allow the 10,000 people with intellectual disability affected by the representative proceeding to claim and receive their agreed increased payments quickly.

STATEMENT OF REASONS FOR INTRODUCTION AND PASSAGE

IN THE 2016 AUTUMN SITTINGS

TRADE LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL (NO. 1)

Purpose of the Bill

The changes proposed in Schedule 1 of this Bill (to the Export Market Development Grants Act 1997) allow the Export Market Development Grants (EMDG) scheme to continue beyond 1 July 2016, by amending the definition of a grant year. At the same time, a number of other minor policy and technical amendments will be made to ensure the continued effective and efficient operation of the scheme. Some of these changes introduce cost-saving measures that will help to bring scheme demand closer in line with the Budget.

The changes proposed in Schedule 2 of this Bill seek to change the name of the Australian Trade Commission to the Australian Trade and Investment Commission, and the consequential changes required to other Acts of Parliament resulting from this change.

Reasons for Urgency

Schedule 1: The Export Market Development Grants Act 1997, as it currently stands, does not make provision for a grant year past 30 June 2016. The Act must be amended if the EMDG scheme is to continue to operate past this date.

A number of the measures in this bill are cost-savings, and they are being introduced to help bring scheme demand closer in line with the budget. Failure to have these measures in place by 1 July 2016 will mean that they are introduced and communicated retrospectively. As they reduce an applicant's entitlement to a grant, this would not be a satisfactory outcome.

Delaying passage of this bill would cause unnecessary uncertainty for small businesses, and undermine the purpose of the scheme. Having the amendments passed during the Autumn Session will provide certainty for Australian small and medium-sized exporters, who will be planning their 2016-17 marketing strategies at that time.

Schedule 2: The Government has placed increasing priority and importance on attracting foreign investment into Australia to help secure Australia's future prosperity. Changing the name of the Australian Trade Commission to the Australian Trade and Investment Commission highlights this importance.