Stephen Jones (Whitlam, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I'm sure the kids in the gallery—it's great to see kids up in the gallery again!—are going to be fascinated by the introduction of this particular bill. The Treasury Laws Amendment (2022 Measures No. 1) Bill 2022 is going to provide certainty to stakeholders about their tax obligations and benefit entitlements, reduce risks to the Commonwealth associated with uncertainty in existing laws and limit the retrospective application of proposed new laws—I can see them going wild!

Schedule 1 to the bill provides an income tax exemption for qualifying grants made to primary producers and small businesses affected by Tropical Cyclone Seroja, which had a devastating impact on communities in Western Australia last year. Affected primary producers and small businesses were eligible to receive recovery grants of up to $25,000, which were activated under the Joint Commonwealth State Disaster Recovery Funding agreements of 2018. Schedule 1 makes these qualifying grants non-assessable, non-exempt income for tax purposes, assisting affected communities as they rebuild and recover.

Schedule 2 of the bill amends the Treasury Laws Amendment (Putting Consumers First) Establishment of the Complaints Authority Act to support the practical closure of the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal and any other transitional arrangements associated with AFCA, the Australian Financial Complaints Authority, which is the successor body of the SCT.

The AFCA Act will be amended to allow for the transfer of SCT records and documents to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission for ongoing records management. It will also allow the Federal Court to remit appealed cases back to AFCA, where previously these had been remitted to the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal.

Schedule 2 also introduces a rule-making power to the AFCA Act to allow the minister to prescribe matters of a transitional nature that may be required to support and effectively close the SCT.

Schedule 3 of the bill is part of a package of commitments to secure the FIFA World Cup in 2022. The bill provides an income and withholding tax exemption to FIFA and a local Australian subsidiary, confined to income in relation to the event. This will maintain Australia's strong reputation as a host for major international sporting events and in particular help promote women's sport.

Schedule 4 amends various laws in the Treasury portfolio to ensure that those laws operate in accordance with the policy intent. It will make minor policy changes to improve the administrative outcomes and remedy unintended consequences and correct technical or drafting defects. The amendments have been identified by Treasury portfolio agencies, the Office of Parliamentary Counsel and the policy divisions within Treasury.

Schedule 4 includes changes to the legislation that supports the modernising business registers program—a program that I had a bit to say about outside of the House in the last 24 hours. The program itself is an important economic reform that Labor supported in opposition and continues to support in government. It will consolidate over 30 business registers on a centralised and modernised business platform.

Under the current legislation, the legal transfer of all registry functions from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission to the new register occurred on 22 June this year. Since coming to government we've discovered significant issues that have been affecting the delivery of this program and put it significantly behind schedule. Given these delays, the bill retrospectively defers the automatic transfer date of all functions to 1 July 2026.

The program was also well over budget. The previous government committed just under half a billion dollars for the program. Preliminary estimates suggest that full delivery of the program may cost as much as $1.5 billion—a $1 billion blowout in a core economic and commerce management program. We'll keep Australians informed as we go about the important business of managing this important program.

The amendments made to schedule 4 to this bill further the government's commitment to care for the maintenance of Treasury laws and will make it easier for Australians to comply with the current laws. Full details are contained in the explanatory memorandum.

Debate adjourned.