David Leyonhjelm (NSW, Liberal Democratic Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Most parties sound unhinged when they list their achievements. There is generally no consistency, and when you look at what they brag about you see a mass of contradictions. One day they support liberty; the next day they oppose it. One day they support balancing the budget; the next day they want to spend a heap of money with no consideration of how to fund it. Trying to make sense of their claimed achievements is an exercise in confusion, and that's if the achievements actually exist and are not just statements of intentions.

The Liberal Democrats don't have that problem. Our achievements are all consistent with our small-government principles. In two previous speeches I have described some of our achievements. I will now describe some more.

When the government was rushing to introduce a tax on backpackers, which is now robbing our agriculture sector of casual labour, I negotiated to introduce a bill to prevent the publication of the names and addresses of employers who hire those on working holiday visas. I also negotiated crossbench support to ensure the bill passed. Because of me, unions cannot simply look up the personal details of farmers planning to hire backpackers, so farmers are not exposed to union harassment. Also, as part of the backpacker tax negotiations, I stopped the ATO passing the private financial information of employers to the Fair Work Ombudsman to enforce minimum wage, penalty rate and award wage compliance. Private tax information should never be used for industrial relations purposes. These two commitments are reflected in the Treasury Laws Amendment (Working Holiday Maker Employer Register) Bill 2017, which is now law.

In response to representations from taxpayers who stood to lose a lot of money, I convinced the government to delay the retrospective clawback of a small business capital gains tax concession, giving people time to adjust their affairs. I always oppose tax increases, but I also oppose legislation that imposes retrospective obligations.

I gained the communication minister's commitment to allow online poker services to operate within Australia. Online poker is a very popular and also a very low risk form of gambling and should never have been included in the ban on online gambling. The government has not yet followed through on this, and I am continuing to apply pressure.

I helped expand the circumstances in which you can withdraw your own superannuation under the government's First Home Super Saver Scheme. If you lose your home because of a divorce settlement, for example, you can still be eligible under the scheme.

As part of my support for a ban on corrupting benefits to union officials, I successfully moved an amendment to remove a reverse-onus-of-proof aspect and to prevent the government being able to widen the ban by decree.

In 2016, there was a bill that required foreign owners to report their ownership of water rights so that a register of such foreign ownership of water rights could be published. I amended the bill to require the Productivity Commission to hold an inquiry within three years into the costs and benefits of the register and the associated imposition on foreign investors. The amendment also requires the Productivity Commission to make recommendations on the issue. That's now visible in section 34A of the Register of Foreign Ownership of Water or Agricultural Land Act 2015.

In 2016, I established the Senate Select Committee on Red Tape to inquire into the effect of restrictions and prohibitions on business—in other words, red tape on the economy and community. The committee has examined some of the most egregious examples of red tape sector by sector. It has considered and reported on the sale, supply and taxation of alcohol; tobacco retailing; environmental assessment and approvals; pharmacy rules; health services; child care; occupational licensing; private education; and policy and processes to limit and reduce red tape. I'm very proud of the committee's work and firmly believe its analysis and recommendations will form the basis for future policy development.

Finally, I want to mention something that's perhaps my most enduring achievement, something that's close to my heart and perhaps something that I might benefit from personally in future years. I refer to saving Anzac Rifle Range for sporting shooters. Soon after I was sworn into the Senate, I began to investigate the situation regarding the New South Wales Rifle Association and its tenure on Anzac Rifle Range. I had long known that the range was owned by the Commonwealth and that previous governments had attempted to kick the shooters off. I knew the Commonwealth had lost two court battles but had, nonetheless, evicted all the shooting groups apart from the Rifle Association itself. What I didn't know was that the government was continuing to harass the Rifle Association in an attempt to force them off by attrition. I realised not only that I should something about it but also that, despite vague words of support from some coalition members, nobody else was genuinely interested. Labor was hostile to the range, and the state Shooters and Fishers Party had decided years ago that it was a lost cause.

I met with the Rifle Association to get up to speed, and I found out which government department was responsible. It was Finance. I established that the Rifle Association was willing to move to another location but, after fighting the government in court, was in no position to pay for a new range. And nor should they have to, because they'd done nothing wrong. So I went to the finance minister and told him I thought the government behaviour was unconscionable. I pointed out that the shooters would leave voluntarily if they had somewhere to go and that the government could sell the land for hundreds of millions of dollars. At my request, the finance minister visited the range, bringing the secretary of the finance department with him. There were discussions about alternative locations, and it was agreed the situation needed to be fixed. Then the Prime Minister of the time, Tony Abbott, gave a commitment that the land would not be sold. That settled it. A secure lease was drafted with a clause which ensured the shooters could be required to leave only if the government provided an equivalent facility somewhere else. A term of 25 years, plus 25 years option, was approved.

The Anzac range has been used since the 1850s. There are 60,000 or more recreational shooters in Sydney, and the range is central to the future of the shooting sports in New South Wales. I am very pleased to have played a significant part in securing its future. There are many other achievements I could mention, but I would need another one or two speeches to cover them, and, of course, more needs to be done. Taxes and government spending remain too high. Red tape and nanny state regulations continue to put a straitjacket on Australians going about their business. But some progress has been made and, with more Liberal Democrats elected to the Senate, we can achieve much more.