Kelvin Thomson (Wills, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Public Accountability and Human Services) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I am referring to the remarks that have been made in debate already by the member for Hunter. The member for Hunter told the parliament—and I wish to reiterate and support his remarks:

... the Criminal Code in this country succinctly defines a facilitation payment by requiring that it be of minimal value whereas, unfortunately, the tax act makes no attempt to do so. Theoretically speaking, any ‘facilitation payment’ that successfully runs the gauntlet of the Crimes Act will almost certainly pass through the net of the tax act because there is no definition in that act.

The AWB case was a serious event involving some $300 million.

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