Linda Reynolds (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I too rise to speak on the Digital Assets (Market Regulation) Bill 2023. First of all, let me commend Senator Bragg for this bill. He's put a lot of thought, consideration and expertise into this bill and he has certainly filled the yawning gap that this Labor government has left. This bill itself creates a licensing regime for digital assets, with custody, disclosure and minimum capital requirements that will give consumers protection and the market the certainty that it needs—and it is certainly a market that is crying out for certainty.

Like so many other examples from this government, I've got no idea what they spent nine years in opposition doing, because, unless it was actually delivered with a nice red bow from the trade union movement or some of the industry super funds, they have been completely unable to govern across so many ministries. They have just not done the work and certainly do not understand the portfolios that they are now responsible for administering. There is no better example of this than a senator who does have the expertise and the mastery actually filling in the gaps where this government has failed. Unfortunately, because it wasn't their idea and their own minister, Minister Jones, was completely incapable of putting this bill together in the first 18 months of their government, halfway through their term they have still left this yawning gap, like so many other things.

They've come into government, and across so many portfolios there is review after review after review, which means inaction, inaction, inaction. Government means you have to make decisions. You have to understand what you're doing, and you have to make decisions, because, if you don't, you go backwards.

That is exactly the case now in this portfolio and in this industry. It was only two years ago that an EY report clearly demonstrated that Australia was on track for a crypto boom by 2030 and that the country's crypto industry could swell by up to 30 times its current size. That has come to shuddering halt and is now going backwards because this government is incapable of working out how to regulate this industry so that it can grow and so that we can attract investment in this sector here in Australia.

What are we talking about in this sector? Digital assets are a booming new asset class with thousands of unique economic opportunities that has the possibility to drive growth and create long-term jobs, particularly for the next generation of tech workers. Australia needs a robust system, but to achieve that—it is not rocket science; well, apparently it is to those opposite—Australia needs a robust regulatory framework to foster investment and ensure that customers are protected from fraudulent activity. Like any other sector where there's money involved, there will be fraud if it is not well regulated and people are not protected.

Now, halfway through their term, instead of working with the regulatory industry and regulating the industry to provide these opportunities for the burgeoning Australian financial sector, the Labor government are dragging their feet, putting the industry in limbo, when they should be nimble and able. They should have actually come in with a plan to do this. In fact, had they just implemented what we had on track in 2022, this would have been passed over 12 months ago, and we would now have a very different sector with far more opportunities. But they have just dragged their feet. Instead of innovation companies looking to Australia, they are now going elsewhere, where governments are promoting innovative products and are also providing the protections for those who are operating in this market.

Worse, after just 18 months of this government, productivity is declining. Real wages are declining, and the government is not doing anything that could stimulate the economy and provide well-paying jobs, especially for younger Australians in these emerging markets. Their pride and their incompetence mean that we are losing opportunities in this sector day by day—to grow this sector, to regulate the sector and to provide new career opportunities to tens of thousands of younger Australians.

What Labor have shown themselves to be incredibly good at is not making decisions, not leading and not governing, but they are good at conducting endless reviews and having catchy terms in media releases. The substance of producing legislation that will improve the lives of Australians is absent. After 18 months of this incompetent minister, they were not able to produce something as fundamentally important as this. He had it all there. I don't know what he was doing—sitting there looking at it? Did he throw it in the bin? But now we the parliament are doing the job of the government by bringing forward this comprehensive and outstanding piece of legislation from Senator Bragg.

Australia, when supported—and sometimes despite not being supported by those opposite—has been at the forefront of technological innovation. Not many Australians know this, but Google Maps was actually created and invented here in Australia, as well as the flight box recorder, cochlear implants and hundreds of other products. When you support innovation here in this nation, Australians thrive.