Louise Pratt (WA, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Manufacturing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

To continue with the debate we've been having about amendments to this bill: the Labor Party have sought to support amendments to the bill that increase the transparency of the legislation so that the rules inside it can't be broken, so that employers can't game the system. To that end we have circulated a revised amendment, on sheet 1091, which requires reporting on the scheme to happen quarterly. Here we really want to be able to see the number of entities that have received payments, the number of employees, the total payroll and a comparison of the amounts that have been paid, and we want to be able to see those things across different regions.

When the government says there will be certain eligibility criteria and thresholds that need to be met in terms of employers demonstrating that they are increasing their headcount and not substituting existing workers with new, subsidised workers, it is important that this be transparent. It's important not only that it's transparent as to individual employers but that we can see it across the operation of the whole scheme. To that end, I move opposition amendment (1) on sheet 1091 revised:

(1) Schedule 1, page 3 (after line 26), after item 4, insert:

4A After section 7

Insert:

7A Requirements for rules that provide for jobmaker hiring credit scheme—reporting of aggregated scheme information

(1) This section applies if rules are made for the purposes of subsection 7(1A) that provide for a kind of payment known as the jobmaker hiring credit.

(2) The rules must require the Commissioner to make publicly available as soon as practicable after the end of each quarter the following aggregated information in relation to entities receiving payments under the scheme for the jobmaker hiring credit:

(a) the number of entities that received payments under the scheme during the quarter;

(b) the number of employees employed by the entities at the end of the quarter;

(c) the total payroll of all the entities for the quarter;

(d) a comparison of the amounts in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) with the amounts for the previous quarter.

(3) Rules made for the purposes of subsection (2) must also provide for reporting of that information aggregated across different sizes of businesses and across different regions of Australia.

(4) In this section:

quarter means a period of 3 months ending on 31 March, 30 June, 30 September or 31 December.

The CHAIR: The question is that amendment (1) on sheet 1091 as moved by Senator Pratt be agreed to.

Louise Pratt (WA, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Manufacturing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move opposition amendment (1) on sheet 1092:

(1) Schedule 1, page 3 (before line 27), before item 5, insert:

4B Before section 8

Insert:

7B Requirements for rules that provide for jobmaker hiring credit scheme—reporting of information about high income employers

(1) This section applies if rules are made for the purposes of subsection 7(1A) that provide for a kind of payment known as the jobmaker hiring credit.

(2) The rules must provide that the Commissioner must, as soon as practicable after the end of each month, make publicly available the information referred to in subsection (3) for an entity that:

(a) is receiving or has received the jobmaker hiring credit; and

(b) is covered by subsection (4).

(3) The information is as follows:

(a) the entity's ABN (within the meaning of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997) and name;

(b) the total number of employees employed by the entity as at the end of the month;

(c) the total amount of payments of jobmaker hiring credit paid to the entity during the month;

(d) the total amount of payments of jobmaker hiring credit paid to the entity during the relevant period up to the end of the month.

(4) An entity is covered by this subsection if the Commissioner has reported information under section 3C of the Taxation Administration Act 1953 in relation to the entity at any time during the 2 year period ending at the end of the relevant month.

Note: Under section 3C of the Taxation Administration Act 1953 the Commissioner is required to publicly report certain information about corporate tax entities with reported total incomes above certain high income thresholds.

(5) To avoid doubt, for the purposes of section 355-50 of the Taxation Administration Act 1953, subsection (2) of this section and rules made for the purposes of that subsection create a duty to make information available.

Here we have monthly reporting on subsidies received by large companies currently subject to corporate tax transparency data regimes. So, much like with the earlier amendment, we really want to be able to see that if foreign companies, for example, or large companies that might have tax arrangements overseas are using this wage subsidy that they are legitimately using the wage subsidy to create new jobs and not just to increase profits that can then avoid taxation here in Australia. This amendment would require data on firms with turnover of $100 million, including their ABN, their total number of employees and the payments of hiring credits on a quarterly basis.

Question negatived.

There is another important issue in terms of the transparency of this legislation. In keeping with the amendments we've moved previously, this scheme needs to have integrity and it needs to protect workers. This means that individual workers should not just have recourse to complaints to the Fair Work Ombudsman, for example; there should be within the rules an ATO procedure to protect whistleblowers so that someone is able to approach the ATO directly in order to raise questions or, indeed, raise issues of corruption of the scheme.

In moving this amendment, I would really like to also ask the minister, if he intends to have the government vote against this amendment: what protection will the government provide for whistleblowers who raise complaints about the corruption of the scheme? I move opposition amendment (1) on sheet 1095:

(1) Schedule 1, page 3 (before line 27), before item 5, insert:

4C Before section 8

Insert:

7C Requirements for rules that provide for jobmaker hiring credit scheme—whistleblowing and complaints measures

(1) This section applies if rules are made for the purposes of subsection 7(1A) that provide for a kind of payment known as the jobmaker hiring credit.

(2) The rules must provide for the following in relation to the scheme for the jobmaker hiring credit:

(a) whistleblowing processes; and

(b) processes for making and handling complaints.

(3) The rules must also require the Commissioner to publish, on a periodic basis during the relevant period and at the end of the scheme, general information about the complaints that have been made in relation to the scheme, including:

(a) the number of complaints received; and

(b) the key issues or behaviours that are the subject of complaints.

Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Trade) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The government will be opposing this amendment. The JobMaker hiring credit will be supported by a number of processes to enable the making and handling of complaints. These processes are not required to be included in the rules to be effective and their inclusion would have the potential to create conflicts with other areas of legislation and may be seen as in fact limiting potential existing avenues for the making and handling of complaints.

An important element of consideration here is that we are talking about normal employment arrangements for employees. Yes, we are creating an incentive to get more young Australians employed as a result of this reform. That's an important part of the reform that is being put in place. However, all of the ordinary practices and processes of the Fair Work Act and the operations of the Fair Work Ombudsman for the receipt of complaints will continue. In terms of the administration of the credits themselves, those are matters that the Australian tax office will be able to manage and monitor. They have their own tip-off line available to report any illegal behaviours or behaviours of concern.

Mehreen Faruqi (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Greens will be supporting Labor's amendment because this bill must include protections for whistleblowers and a process for making and handling complaints. There is so little in this bill and so much missing from the regulations and, with such a flawed, underdeveloped proposal on the table, the government must, at the very least, put in place reporting and complaint-making and complaint-handling processes to try and mitigate the risks that will, no doubt, come with the implementation of this scheme.

The CHAIR: The question is that amendment (1) on sheet 1095, as moved by Senator Pratt, be agreed to.

Louise Pratt (WA, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Manufacturing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I implore the government to look more directly at the transparency and oversight of this scheme, so I move opposition amendment (1) on sheet 1096:

(1) Schedule 1, page 3 (before line 27), before item 5, insert:

4D Before section 8

Insert:

7D Requirements for rules that provide for jobmaker hiring credit scheme—evaluation of the scheme

(1) This section applies if rules are made for the purposes of subsection 7(1A) that provide for a kind of payment known as the jobmaker hiring credit.

(2) The rules must require that:

(a) an evaluation of the scheme for the jobmaker hiring credit must be conducted 6 months and 12 months after the beginning of the relevant period; and

(b) a report on each of those evaluations must be provided to the Treasurer and published on the Department of the Treasury's website.

(3) Rules made for the purposes of subsection (2) must require that:

(a) each evaluation is conducted within 30 days of the end of the period the subject of the evaluation; and

(b) the report of the evaluation is made publicly available by the end of that 30 day period.

The Treasury should be conducting evaluation processes at three and six months, as they did with JobKeeper, and release that data. The evaluation was critically important, and I ask the government to support at least this level of transparency for this scheme. The government hasn't supported any amendments concerning transparency of this scheme that have been moved but should show some goodwill and subject itself to at least a modicum of transparency of this scheme.

Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Trade) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The government has been continually monitoring and evaluating the impact of COVID on the economy. We've tailored our responses accordingly. This JobMaker hiring credit is a key part of those responses. We will continue to monitor and we will also, no doubt, respond to many different questions through the parliamentary processes and elsewhere in terms of providing information and details as necessary.

The CHAIR: The question is that amendment (1) on sheet 1096, as moved by Senator Pratt, be agreed to.

Question negatived.

Louise Pratt (WA, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Manufacturing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move opposition amendment (1) on sheet 1107:

(1) Schedule 1, page 3 (before line 27), before item 5, insert:

4E After section 7

Insert:

7E Requirements for rules that provide for jobmaker hiring credit scheme—ineligibility for paying increased executive bonuses

(1) This section applies if rules are made for the purposes of subsection 7(1A) that provide for a kind of payment known as the jobmaker hiring credit.

(2) The rules must provide that an entity is not eligible for the payment at any time during the relevant period if:

(a) during the period beginning on 1 March 2020 and ending at the end of the relevant period the entity pays a bonus to an executive or other officer of the entity; and

(b) the Commissioner is satisfied that the amount of the bonus exceeds the amount of the last such payment made by the entity to the officer.

It's really important that economic stimulus measures protect people's jobs, but many large companies that relied heavily on JobKeeper ended up paying large executive bonuses. A good example is Premier Investments, the company behind Smiggle, Just Jeans and Peter Alexander. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Premier Investments was granted $68.7 million under the scheme. The chief executive received bonuses of $2.5 million in short-term incentives and more than $400,000 in long-term incentives. This is on top of the chief executive's salary of $2.4 million.

If the government's going to help pay people's wages so that we can inject life into the economy and recruit more people into the workforce, that money should not be going to firms that are paying big executive bonuses that they can only afford to pay off the back of taxpayer funded schemes like this one.

Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Trade) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The government rejects this amendment. It's very similar to some of the Greens amendments we saw before. Labor and the Greens seem to be pursuing a series of amendments that would actually narrow eligibility for businesses who want to hire a young Australian to get the support to create that additional job to hire a young Australian. Let's keep in mind, in relation to this scheme, that businesses have to increase the number of people on the payroll, they have to increase the size of their payroll and they are subject then to appropriate auditing in terms of the way this program works.

There is nothing wrong, as I said earlier in this debate, with a business making a profit. We want profitable businesses in Australia because profitable businesses hire more people and create more jobs, and that is exactly what we are seeking to achieve. What we want and what we want to ensure, through the safeguards in this legislation, is that there is very clearly a process in place where businesses receive the JobMaker hiring credit only if they are increasing the total headcount on their books and if they are also increasing the total payroll that they pay out—dual safeguards to make sure the credit is there to help achieve more jobs for more young Australians.

Mehreen Faruqi (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There is something absolutely wrong, very wrong, about businesses using taxpayer funded subsidies to pay huge bonuses to their executives and to pay huge dividends to their shareholders—something so wrong. I'm flabbergasted that you can't see that there is something wrong with that. So the Greens will be supporting this amendment. And I do wish that Labor had supported our amendment to also make sure that companies that have paid huge dividends through this scheme are not able to be part of the scheme. It is exactly the same principle—exactly the same principle. It's obscene for those companies to pay bonuses to their executives and it's obscene for them to pay dividends to their shareholders through taxpayer funded public subsidies. The Greens will support this amendment.

The CHAIR: The question is that amendment (1) on sheet 1107 moved by Senator Pratt be agreed to.