Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I seek leave to have the second reading speech incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The speech read as follows—

This Bill will provide certainty to stakeholders about their tax obligations and benefit entitlements, reduce risks to the Commonwealth associated with uncertainty in existing laws and limit the retrospective application of proposed new laws.

Schedule 1 to the Bill provides an income tax exemption for qualifying grants made to primary producers and small businesses affected by Tropical Cyclone Seroja, which had a devasting impact on communities in Western Australia in April last year.

Affected primary producers and small businesses were eligible to receive recovery grants of up to $25,000, which were activated under thejoint Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements 2018. Schedule 1 makes these qualifying grants non-assessable non-exempt income for tax purposes, assisting affected communities as they rebuild and recover.

Schedule 2 to the Bill amends the Treasury Laws Amendment (Putting Consumers FirstEstablishment of the Australian Financial Complaints Authority) Act to support the practical closure of the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal (SCT) and any transitional arrangements associated with AFCA replacing the SCT.

The AFCA Act will be amended to allow for the transfer of SCT records and documents to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission for ongoing records management, and will also allow the Federal Court to remit appealed cases back to AFCA, where previously these had been remitted to the SCT.

Schedule 2 also introduces a rule-making power to the AFCA Act, to allow the Minister to prescribe matters of a transitional nature that may be required to support the closure of the SCT.

Schedule 3 to the Bill is part of a package of commitments to secure the FIFA Women's World Cup in 2023. The Bill provides an income and withholding tax exemption to FIFA and a local Australian subsidiary, confined to income in relation to the event.

This will maintain Australia's strong reputation as a host for major international sporting events and, in particular, help promote women's sport.

Schedule 4 amends various laws in the Treasury portfolio to ensure those laws operate in accordance with the policy intent, make minor policy changes to improve administrative outcomes or remedy unintended consequences and correct technical or drafting defects.

The amendments have been identified by Treasury portfolio agencies, the Office of Parliamentary Counsel and policy divisions within Treasury.

Schedule 4 includes changes to the legislation that supports the Modernising Business Registers program. This program is an important economic reform that will consolidate over 30 business registers on a centralised and modernised business platform. Under the current legislation the legal transfer of all registry functions from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission to the new Registrar occurred on 22 June 2022.

Since coming to government, we have discovered significant issues that have affected delivery of this program and put it significantly behind schedule. Given these delays, this Bill retrospectively defers the automatic transfer date of all functions to 1 July 2026.

The program will also be well over budget. The previous government originally committed just under half a billion dollars for the program. Preliminary estimates suggest full delivery of the program may now cost up to $1.5 billion. We will keep Australians informed as we go about the important business of managing this project.

The amendments made by Schedule 4 to this Bill further the Government's commitment to the care and maintenance of Treasury laws and will make it easier for Australians to comply with current laws.

Full details of the measures are contained in the Explanatory Memorandum.