Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Families and Payments) Share this | Hansard source

I support the comments made by Senator Gallagher. What we've seen in the last couple of days is nothing short of a complete shambles and a complete disrespect for this chamber. We have just received the government's amendments. I haven't had a chance to go through these amendment or the implications of the amendments proposed by the government. But I would like to say that I was very disappointed in the fact that we've come to the in committee stage and that a vote to oppose this bill outright defeated. I would also like to put the party's position on record. We do believe that the bill should have been chucked out. We believe that this is, again, the Deputy Prime Minister's pork barrel for a political advantage.

The Regional Investment Corporation Bill 2017 has been developed with no cost-benefit analysis as to whether the corporation will actually deliver any of the claims put forward by the government. There has been no transparent or fair process undertaken by the government to determine where the location of the RIC will be. In fact, a government senator, in their contribution, also questioned the location of the RIC. As I've said, the RIC is just another effort by Mr Joyce to serve a political purpose only.

Another point that the Labor Party made in our contribution to this bill was about the cost of establishing the RIC. We believe that the true cost is $81 million over the forwards, with the potential to be higher if there's a low intake of loans. The existing current loans that are administered by states and the Northern Territory will remain the responsibility of the states and the Territory. Establishing a new body to administer new loans is a waste of taxpayers' money, is inefficient and is costly.

There was a Senate inquiry into this bill. I would like to take a few moments to go through what the dissenting report from Labor senators reported. It was noted in that report that the government:

• Has failed to provide any coherent policy rationale for the establishment of the Regional Investment Corporation (RIC);

• Has offered mixed messages when enunciating the policy objectives for the establishment of the RIC;

And, as I've said, and as the Senate dissenting report on this bill also noted, the government:

• Has failed to undertake a cost-benefit analysis to give confidence that the $28m cost of establishing and operating the RIC delivers good value for the Australian taxpayer;

But it is not unusual when something comes from Mr Barnaby Joyce that there's a failure to undertake a cost-benefit analysis. Given that there hasn't been a cost-benefit analysis, it doesn't give confidence that the $28 million cost—the government's own figure, I might add—of establishing and operating the RIC delivers good value for the Australian taxpayer. I will return to the dissenting report on this bill later in the committee stage.

The Labor Party have proposed and circulated a number of amendments, and we will be requesting that those amendments be moved separately. We are hoping that the minister at the table will seek to explain the intention of the government amendments that have just been put before us.