James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Treasury Laws Amendment (2022 Measures No. 4) Bill. This is a bill that, like so much of what we're seeing now, does look familiar. Much of the content of this bill contains the pro-growth, pro-small to medium-sized business agenda that typifies and typified the coalition's approach to the economy, and we strongly support those components. We strongly support initiatives such as the Digital Games Tax Offset, the Technology Investment Boost, the Skills and Training Boost and the initiatives to reduce red tape. This is a good thing—from tax incentives to support the digital economy to reducing red tape for large and small businesses, improving integrity around superannuation, supporting small and medium-sized businesses to digitise and train their staff.

However, we do have deep reservations about other parts of this bill. It is important to note that this bill could have sailed through this parliament with bipartisan support months ago. Instead, at exactly the same time we should be delivering certainty to business, this Labor government has stapled into this bill a number of politically contentious measures, classic wedge politics that do nothing to advance the interests of Australian businesses or consumers. This includes billions in spending for transmission projects that have not been recommended by the energy operator; a hidden $1 billion fund for the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water to circumvent the independent Clean Energy Finance Corporation processes; and legislative changes that remove safeguards for investment in the Clean Energy Finance Corporation.

Schedule 8 seeks to implement a change to remove the safeguards around spending through the Clean Energy Finance Corporation. It modifies the CFC Act to enable the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to receive additional funds to implement Rewiring the Nation, establishes the Powering Australia Technology Fund and streamlines the ability of the government to provide the CFC with additional funds in the future. This schedule also clarifies the Clean Energy Finance Corporation's governance arrangements in specifying its nominated minister. The explanatory memorandum of the bill clarifies that this is an $11 billion allocation of funding with an additional $1 billion going to the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water to fund projects that would not meet the Clean Energy Finance Corporation's criteria.

A remaining $8 billion will be credited to the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, at a later date, to meet the $20 billion election commitment. However, the government has not identified what these projects would be. Critically, the schedule amends several operational revisions of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation Act. The legislation seeks to remove the requirement for the government to legislate additional funding for the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, allowing them to great additional accounts within the Clean Energy Finance Corporation simply via general appropriations acts.

The coalition has concerns about this schedule. This means, in practice, that Minister Bowen, the Minister for Climate Change and Energy, will be able to sneak in changes without consulting parliament. At a time when businesses need certainty, this is a Labor government playing games, and businesses will pay the price for this. Therefore, while we support many of the schedules in this bill, the opposition will be moving amendments to remove schedule 8.

Where urge the crossbench and government to support this amendment, to ensure that this bill is bipartisan and can be progressed quickly to the benefit of all Australians.