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

I, and also on behalf of Senator Waters, move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

  (i) the Tax Justice Network Financial Secrecy Index, released on 18 February 2020, assigns Australia a secrecy score of 50 out of 100, and

  (ii) the Narrative Report on Australia states that Australia undoubtedly hosts significant quantities of illicit funds from outside the country, and identified that the following weaknesses in Australian law continue to enable illicit funds to find a safe haven in Australia:

     (A) that real estate agents, accountants and lawyers are not subject to anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing obligations, and

     (B) the absence of adequate transparency measures for the beneficial ownership of companies; and

(b) calls on the Federal Government to introduce legislation that would:

  (i) ensure that real estate agents, accountants and lawyers are subject to anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing obligations; and

  (ii) establish a publicly accessible register of beneficial ownership of companies.