Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Tourism) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I move opposition amendments (1) and (2) on sheet 8890 together:

(1) Clause 21, page 9 (lines 21 and 22), omit subclause (2), substitute:

(2) The review must include:

(a) the effectiveness of this Act in meeting the object of this Act; and

(b) the effectiveness of any investment by the Commonwealth in the Fund in relation to the following:

(i) demand for equity investments by businesses;

(ii) the impact of the creation of the Fund on the overall access to capital for small and medium Australian enterprises;

(iii) the impact of the creation of the Fund on competition within capital markets in relation to small and medium Australian enterprises;

(iv) the operation of the rights and powers of the Commonwealth in relation to the governance arrangements of the Fund.

(2) Clause 21, page 9 (line 24), at the end of subclause (3), add "The report of the review must not include information that is commercially sensitive.".

Amendment (1) seeks to strengthen the review mechanisms built into the legislation. The strengthened mechanisms will ensure that we will be able to properly assess whether the investment is well-targeted and whether it increases SME access to finance. The amendment will ensure that the review looks at the impact of this proposal on the demand for equity investments by business, on the overall access to capital for small- and medium-sized businesses and on competition within capital markets used by SMEs, and at the governance arrangements around the Commonwealth's participation in the fund.