Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Disability and Carers) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

(1)   Clause 11, page 10 (lines 6 to 9), omit the note, substitute:

Note:   Part 4 of Chapter 3 (sunsetting) of the Legislation Act 2003 does not apply to the directions (see regulations made for the purposes of paragraph 54(2)(b) of that Act).

(2)   Clause 11, page 10 (after line 31), at the end of the clause, add:

  (4)   Despite regulations made for the purposes of paragraph 44(2)(b) of the Legislation Act 2003, section 42 (disallowance) of that Act applies to a direction forming part of the Operating Mandate.

(3)   Clause 12, page 11 (before line 16), before subclause (4), insert:

  (3C)   For the purposes of subsection (3), any terms and conditions to be included in an agreement must be in accordance with the rules.

  (3D)   However, a failure to comply with subsection (3C) does not affect the validity of a particular term or condition included in an agreement.

(4)   Clause 12, page 11 (lines 19 to 21), subclause (5) (including the heading), to be opposed.

(5)   Clause 12, page 11 (after line 21), at the end of the clause, add:

  (5)   The rules must prescribe, in relation to agreements to be entered into under subsection (3):

  (a)   the terms and conditions, or the kinds of terms and conditions, that may be included in an agreement; and

  (b)   the matters the Corporation must consider in specifying terms and conditions to be included in an agreement.

(6)   Page 12 (after line 23), at the end of Part 2, add:

13A Tabling of water infrastructure project agreements etc.

  (1)   The Corporation must give the Agriculture Minister a copy of an agreement entered into under subsection 12(3).

  (2)   The Agriculture Minister must cause:

  (a)   a copy of the agreement; and

  (b)   any direction given under subsection 12(3) relating to the agreement;

to be tabled in each House of Parliament within 15 sitting days of that House after receiving a copy of the agreement.

  (3)   The Agriculture Minister must cause a copy of the documents mentioned in subsection (2) to be published on the internet within 30 days of the Minister receiving the copy of the agreement.

(7)   Page 23 (after line 10), after clause 41, insert:

41A Disclosure of interests

  (1)   The CEO must give written notice to the Board of any disclosure made by the CEO under section 29 of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (which deals with the duty to disclose interests).

  (2)   Subsection (1) applies in addition to any rules made for the purposes of section 29 of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013.

  (3)   For the purposes of this Act and the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013, the CEO is taken not to have complied with section 29 of that Act if the CEO does not comply with subsection (1) of this section.

I thank Senator Cormann for his contribution just a moment ago, and I also thank the government for engaging with Labor on the amendments. But it is important, I think, to again reiterate that the Regional Investment Corporation is a poor piece of public policy. It was driven by politics, rather than the interests of our farmers. How else would you explain the decision to locate it in Orange, the place where the National Party lost a local seat for the first time in 69 years? The former agricultural minister, Mr Barnaby Joyce, wants to spend $28 million of taxpayers' money to administer loans already administered by the states. He has offered no acceptable rationale other than to criticise the states. At the same time we know that he is asking the states how to do the job. We know that. We've heard that in contributions last year on this bill.

The fact that the RIC is just a shocking pork barrel is not our only concern. There are a number of governance deficiencies in this bill. The lack of transparency and accountability should be of concern to every senator. They were certainly matters of concern to the Senate's Scrutiny of Bills Committee. These deficiencies are not drafting errors; they are a deliberate attempt to keep secret the work of the RIC and to give the minister extraordinary powers to maximise the pork-barrelling opportunities. As I said last year when we were first debating this bill, Labor remains opposed to the RIC and we will remain opposed while ever the government is unable to provide a cogent reason for its establishment. But we are pleased by Minister Cormann's statements here today. We are pleased the government has finally been dragged into at least accepting some of the amendments which address some of the governance, accountability and transparency issues.

Senators need to be reminded that most of these amendments were put to the Senate last year. They were rejected by the government at that time but lost very narrowly—in one case, on a tied vote. The main effect of the amendments is to allow the parliament to scrutinise and monitor the ministerial direction. This will reduce further political exploitation of the RIC. The RIC's mandate will be disallowable, as will set rules and criteria. The location of the RIC will now be based on a recommendation from the RIC board, rather than ministerial edict. Of course, the board will be appointed by the minister, which, sadly, softens the impact of the measure. However, we believe it has the potential to bring some proper public guidance to the process, and we will put pressure on the board to justify its choice. We know that no other regional areas were given the opportunity to bid for this agency, and the future board should take this into account. Further, agreements entered into with state governments will, at the appropriate time, be made available to the parliament. Finally, the CEO of the RIC will now be required to declare any pecuniary interest. This is surely standard and good practice. The case for the expenditure of tens of millions of dollars on a new Regional Investment Corporation has not been established, and Labor continues to reject what we believe is a political stunt, but we are pleased that, if this bill does pass, people can at least have faith in its governance arrangements and that there are a few safeguards against the political abuse of the new entity.