David Leyonhjelm (NSW, Liberal Democratic Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support the Treasury Laws Amendment (Working Holiday Maker Employer Register) Bill 2017. I see this bill as a finalisation of the government's backpacker tax package of 2016. The government's backpacker tax package passed in late 2016, albeit with a hiccup on 30 November 2016. By November 2016, the government had the support of the then Xenophon Team of three senators provided that a program to encourage unemployed youth to do seasonal work was subsequently implemented. That program has since been implemented. By 30 November 2016, the government had the support of Pauline Hanson's One Nation provided that the tax rate on working holiday-makers was reduced from 19 per cent to 15 per cent. And by 30 November 2016 the government believed it had Senator Hinch's support, too. The government knew it did not have my support at that time because the backpacker tax package included some violations of taxpayer privacy and because I considered that even a 15 per cent tax rate was excessive. That's still my view, incidentally, and I think Labor's agriculture shadow minister would agree with me.

Then, on 30 November 2016, Senator Hinch joined Senator Culleton and others to vote for a 10.5 per cent tax rate, instead of a 15 per cent tax rate. So it was a 10.5 per cent tax rate that passed the Senate, much to the dismay of the government. Treasurer Morrison came to my office asking if there was any way I could support the backpacker tax package at 15 per cent. I reluctantly agreed to support the package if the violations of taxpayer privacy were removed. Having secured this deal, the government brought that part of the backpacker tax package dealing with the tax rate back to the Senate on 1 December 2016, and a 15 per cent tax rate was finally passed.

The part of the backpacker tax package that included the violations of taxpayer privacy had already passed both houses, so it was not returned to the Senate on 1 December 2016. Instead, to fix the violations of taxpayer privacy we needed new legislation, hence the bill we are debating today, the Treasury Laws Amendment (Working Holiday Maker Employer Register) Bill 2017. I thank the government for bringing this bill to the Senate.

This bill removes a provision allowing the Australian Taxation Office to publicise on the Australian Business Register an individual employer's intention to hire working holiday-makers. The ATO has not used this power to date, given that the bill has been on the Notice Paper. Forcing the publication on the Australian Business Register of an individual employer's intention to hire working holiday-makers is a recipe for the Australian Workers' Union to harass that individual employer. Farmers are mostly small businesses—individual family businesses. They have enough problems with droughts, floods and even needles in strawberries without Senator Cameron's bovver-boy mates knocking on the door. Employers will be free to continue to publicise their intentions to hire working holiday-makers through sites frequented by prospective working holiday-makers. It will come as no surprise that working holiday-makers tend not to peruse the Australian Business Register. General reporting about working holiday-makers and employers who hire them is unaffected by this bill.

This bill also reverts to the previous rule protecting personal financial information provided by a taxpayer to the ATO, so that the ATO can provide this information to the employment department without breaching secrecy provisions only if the taxpayer is actually or reasonably suspected of noncompliance with a taxation law. Because this bill has been on the Notice Paper, the ATO is currently divulging information consistent with the previous rule, rather than divulging information more broadly. This is a protection of the personal financial information of law-abiding taxpayers and it should continue.

I expect Labor and the Greens will make outlandish claims about this bill, but this is a simple and modest bill. It ensures that the protection on taxpayer privacy in place on 30 November 2016 remains. It represents the finalisation of a backpacker tax package that the Senate agreed to on 1 December 2016. I commend the bill to the Senate.