David Bradbury (Lindsay, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Five years, indeed, as the Assistant Treasurer has pointed out. It was a long time. I must say it would have had to have been one of the most exposed exposure drafts in the history of this place. It has been a long process. I think it is important that, when governments make announcements in relation to significant changes in the tax law, there is a swift process—albeit a process that does engage in the necessary consultation—by which the original announcement is then translated into laws so that tax practitioners and the marketplace can then arrange their affairs in accordance with those changes.

In relation to the other schedules in this bill, I note that schedule 2 seeks to make a significant reform which will overcome the outcome of the Federal Court decision in relation to that matter. Schedules 3 and 4 are matters that clearly are of a much more pressing and urgent nature in ensuring that the parliament deals with them promptly. I understand that the Assistant Treasurer will be looking to move an amendment to facilitate the progress of those particular elements of the bill so that there will be the opportunity for further consultation on those elements where that may of benefit and committees can go through that process in greater detail.

Schedules 3 and 4 correct anomalies in relation to the treatment of various payments. The intent of schedule 3 is to ensure that the tax treatment of rent assistance that is paid to Austudy recipients is exempt. That is an important change precipitated by the fact that rent assistance had been announced in recent times by the former government, and it is important to ensure that there is consistency in the treatment of those payments with similar payments to people in similar situations, such as Newstart allowance, youth allowance and Abstudy. It is really about ensuring that there is some consistency in the treatment of these matters. Schedule 4, the substance of which is in relation to the carer adjustment payment, seeks to ensure that payments of that nature are considered to be and treated as tax exempt and to bring them into line with other similar payments that would otherwise be treated as being tax exempt so far as the taxation law is concerned.

I am very pleased to support the bill before the House. In particular, I think that it is a matter of some urgency that schedules 3 and 4 be dealt with. But schedules 1 and 2 I think really do evidence this government’s intention to act upon previous announcements made and to ensure that taxpayers have some certainty in proceeding with their affairs, given that the courts have made various decisions that have created uncertainty in these areas.

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