Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury) Share this | Hansard source

Today in Sydney Australia's fintech community is meeting at the CDR summit, but there's only one question on their mind: why is the government continuing to deny Australians the opportunity to take the next step when it comes to consumer data rights?

Why is the government denying Australians this important innovation, particularly during a cost-of-living crisis? Why is the government denying them this opportunity? The Minister for Financial Services himself said last year:

The promise of CDR—

the consumer data right—

is great. As a competition policy, it has the potential to drive a better deal for consumers across a range of good and services, and drive productivity growth across a number of industries.

Why is the government hiding the consumer data right bill from the Senate? The ACCC chair said in Senate estimates just recently that, while the consumer data right implementation task has been complex and technically challenging, the foundations were well laid and we have reached a point of maturity in the underlying technology and process. So why does the government deny the Senate the opportunity to have a vote on the consumer data right bill?

Remember this: the Treasury Laws Amendment (Consumer Data Right) Bill 2022 passed the House of Representatives on 6 March 2023. It has been sitting on the Senate Notice Paper for over 110 sitting days. Then guess what happened? Just this week the government sneakily took the bill off the agenda. Why is the government, during a cost-of-living crisis, denying Australians the next step and denying fintech operators in our country important investment opportunities? This is shameful, and the Senate should vote on the bill. (Time expired)