Adam Bandt (Melbourne, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Very briefly, I think that the shadow Treasurer raises some very legitimate concerns about the Treasury Legislation Amendment (Unclaimed Money and Other Measures) Bill 2012. On the whole, this is a bill the intention of which the Australian Greens support, especially as it is a money bill and it is the government's intention to use it as part of the MYEFO package. We have differences of opinion with the government about whether this necessarily ought to be the priority way of raising revenue. The superannuation fund issue was aired in the blaze of publicity surrounding MYEFO, but there are probably other parts of this bill that did not attract the same level of publicity. I believe, and the Greens believe, that there should be opportunities for scrutiny with respect to those other parts.

Although there have been a lot of claims about ways it could disadvantage people, it may well be that under scrutiny those claims evaporate, but there should be an opportunity to have a look at it.

I understand that further to the request from the member for Lyne the debate will be adjourned, which I think is a sensible course of action. We reserve our position awaiting further advice from the government in respect of how they intend to process it and also in terms of how we would ultimately vote. We do not have any intention to hold up a budget measure and if there are other ways of dealing with these questions that have arisen perhaps by way of a Senate inquiry that is something that ought to happen. But as a matter of principle, especially in light of some of those measures that did not attract the publicity at the time of MYEFO that the superannuation measure did, there is an argument to be made that there should be an opportunity for scrutiny. We will reserve our position as to what that should be and how we will ultimately vote if this is put, but we do think there is some legitimacy to the concerns that have been raised.

Debate adjourned.

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