Andrew Bragg (NSW, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) a key role of the Senate is scrutiny of government revenue measures,

(ii) in April 2023, Senator Bragg requested the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) prepare a costing of Schedule 5 of the Treasury Laws Amendment (2023 Measures No. 1) Bill 2023, including the methodology and assumptions used by the Treasury,

(iii) the Treasury has since failed to supply the PBO with the methodology and assumptions used to cost this measure and fulfil the request,

(iv) the methodology and assumptions used to cost government revenue measures should be easily disclosable to the PBO and made available to senators in a general anonymised form as part of costing requests, and

(v) any sensitive documents or data provided to the PBO can be handled by that office under strict confidentiality provisions and there is no expectation that any confidential taxpayers' data would be disclosed to anyone outside the PBO;

(b) orders the Secretary to the Treasury to disclose to the PBO, by no later than midday on 11 May 2023, the methodology and assumptions used to cost Schedule 5 of Treasury Laws Amendment (2023 Measures No. 1) Bill 2023 and subsequently approve the disclosure of such information to Senator Bragg as part of his costing request with any sensitive information redacted to comply with taxpayer privacy considerations; and requires the PBO to advise the Senate of the Secretary's compliance, or otherwise, with this order by no later than midday on 16 May 2023.