Barbara Pocock (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I just want to express my surprise. I have sat for the last eight months in collaborative outrage with Senator Colbeck, and we have on a number of occasions shared our concern, which is on Hansard, about the fact that the PwC scandal took eight years to come to the attention of the Australian public. There are many reasons why it took so long, and we have a bunch of other measures which are needed to deal with the secrecy that prevents open and proper discussion by the ATO with other agencies. The fines that are there for people who commit misdemeanours are clearly inadequate, and Senator Colbeck and members of your party have shared their outrage with me.

One of the key measures we need to take is to assure the Australian public that there is no potential conflict of interest on a regulatory body like the Tax Practitioners Board, which regulates tax agents. They need confidence that those who are regulated are not represented on that board. That is what this measure does. So I am surprised that you would not see merit in strengthening that regulatory provision and ensuring that very large tax organisations and their businesses are not supported by members. It's not just recusing themselves from meetings where they're actual agents and their behaviour is being discussed. It is actually ensuring that the practice, the culture and the general meetings that are held by the Tax Practitioners Board are seen to be above conflict and actually behave in ways that are above conflict. That is what this amendment does, and I'm surprised that you're questioning the specific measures that are being proposed in this amendment.