Peter Whish-Wilson (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I have a couple of questions I wanted to put to the government, but could I just start by saying Centre Alliance didn't give a second reading speech in this place. They didn't give a second reading speech. Have no doubt: this is the government reneging on the backpacker deal that we did in the Senate in the summer of 2016, which ex-Senator Xenophon and his team signed off on. Where is Centre Alliance? Why did they support the government in a retrograde step to reduce worker protections? Why did they support a deal that the government did with Senator Leyonhjelm? What did they get out of it? If you ever need evidence that Centre Alliance aren't all they make themselves out to be—some kind of progressive influence in the Australian Senate—just look what they've done today. I'd also like you to look at what they did by supporting the government on gutting marine protections just a month ago with no real reason. Nevertheless, they should come into this place during this Committee of the Whole stage and explain why they have supported removing an integral part of the deal that was done on the backpacker tax in 2016. I will get back to that a little bit later.

Minister, I have got a couple of questions for you. Actually, Minister, you weren't in here during my speech on the second reading, but I'll go through a little bit more detail for you. Firstly, we've seen two questions on notice—No. 196 from the Senate Economics Legislation Committee supplementary budgets estimates 2017-18 and No. 68 from the Senate Economics Legislation Committee budget estimates 2018-19—where the Registrar of the Australian Business Register and ATO commissioner have the discretion to make certain information publicly available, and the registrar had chosen not to make an employer's working holiday-maker registration publicly available on two occasions. Basically, the then Treasurer, Scott Morrison, said in his second reading speech that he would make the register public, so can you explain why the ATO has chosen not to make these registers publicly available since the legislation passed? And did you, Minister, or your government instruct the ATO not to make these registers public?