Rex Patrick (SA, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

[by video link] I oppose schedules 1 and 2 in the following terms:

(3) Schedule 1, page 4 (lines 1 to 19), to be opposed.

(4) Schedule 2, page 5 (line 1) to page 6 (line 12), to be opposed.

I just want the chamber to understand what these amendments are about and why I think it's important from a principle perspective to support them, and that is that the first three schedules of this bill, the Treasury Laws Amendment (2021 Measures No. 6) Bill 2021, basically duplicate the simpler schedules within the Treasury Laws Amendment (2021 Measures No. 4) Bill.

The Treasury Laws Amendment (2021 Measures No. 4) Bill currently has attached to it my amendment that seeks to end a 25-year long temporary exemption for large proprietary grandfathered companies to not disclose or not submit financial reports to ASIC. It creates a class of companies that are privileged, that are not treated in the same way in which all other companies are treated, and it's something that has to be removed from our legislature.

Because that amendment is to the Treasury Laws Amendment (2021 Measures No. 4) Bill, the government have not brought it forward. They haven't brought it forward because they know that that amendment will get up. It's supported by Labor. It's supported by the Greens. It's supported by all of the crossbench. So what they have done here—just so everyone knows—is they've taken schedules out of that bill and attached it to this bill because the other schedules are quite important, and most people agree with them, as I do. We shouldn't let the government run games around very serious matters.

The effect of the amendments that I am proposing today are to remove schedules (1), (2) and (3) to this bill. We can, of course, have our say on those particular schedules if they were presented with the Treasury Laws Amendment (2021 Measures No. 4) Bill.