Andrew Leigh (Fenner, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

This bill consists of measures designed to strengthen confidence in our markets, improve the way regulators operate, and support long-term economic growth. Its provisions span areas as diverse as corporate disclosure, the regulation of charities, oversight of financial regulators, energy market protections, and taxation.

One measure of particular significance for productivity is the continuation of the $20,000 instant asset write-off until mid-2026. Its value lies in encouraging businesses to invest in new equipment and technology. Productivity is not only about working smarter, but also about working with better tools. When firms are able to expand and upgrade their capital stock, they achieve what's known as capital deepening—more capital per worker—which is one of the surest routes to higher productivity.

By allowing immediate deductions, this measure reduces the barrier to making those investments and helps ensure that Australian workers are equipped to do their job more efficiently. Boosting productivity is a central focus of our government—reflected in the Treasurer's recent Economic Reform Roundtable, a valuable national conversation aimed at delivering higher living standards for all Australians.

The bill also recognises that strong markets depend on transparency. In our corporate sector, greater clarity about who holds influence over listed companies supports fairer and more efficient decision-making and ensures that directors and investors can respond on the basis of accurate information.

For the wider community, improved access to ownership information means that journalists, academics and others are better placed to shine light on potential concentrations of power.

In civil society, too, openness matters. Allowing the charities regulator to speak more directly to the public where there are concerns of misconduct ensures that trust in the sector is not eroded by silence or uncertainty. In both domains—business and the non-profit sector—transparency provides the oxygen that accountability requires.

Other provisions of the bill ensure that reviews of our financial regulators are conducted with sufficient depth, that consumer safeguards in the energy market remain in place during the transition, and that the law continues to operate as intended through a set of technical amendments.

Together, these measures promote investment, transparency and accountability—the conditions on which stronger productivity and public confidence ultimately rest.

I turn now to each of the seven schedules in the bill.

Schedule 1 to the bill will improve the transparency of ownership and control of entities listed on Australian financial markets. Firstly, it broadens market disclosures to better capture interests arising through equity derivatives—closing a disclosure loophole and bringing Australia into greater alignment with many comparable international jurisdictions. It also strengthens the existing substantial holding and tracing notice regimes that govern the disclosure of interests in listed entities, while enhancing the Australian Securities and Investments Commission's regulatory enforcement powers and the penalties it can seek to help ensure compliance.

Better ownership information will improve market efficiency, including by improving investors' ability to conduct due diligence on prospective acquisitions, supporting a more efficient allocation of resources. It will also give company directors and security-holders better visibility whenever someone may be seeking to build up influence over their companies.

Schedule 1 of the bill further supports corporate transparency by providing greater access to beneficial ownership information to interested members of the public; including providing journalists and academics, who play a key role in initiating and encouraging public debate, with fee-free access to tracing notice registers.

This measure builds on our government's corporate transparency achievements. Since 2022, Labor has implemented a suite of corporate transparency reforms aimed at curbing secrecy and strengthening accountability. Firms tendering for large government contracts are now required to disclose their country of tax residency. Australian listed and unlisted public companies must disclose the tax residency of their subsidiaries in their annual financial reports through a consolidated entity disclosure statement. Our government has implemented a world-leading public country-by-country reporting regime, requiring billion-dollar multinationals to disclose where they pay tax.

Schedule 2 will allow the commissioner of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission to make disclosures about new or ongoing investigations where the disclosure would prevent or minimise the risk of significant harm.

Secrecy provisions currently prevent the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission from disclosing whether it is investigating alleged misconduct by a charity. This adversely impacts public trust and confidence in the sector and in the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission as an effective regulator.

This reform will allow the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission to assure charities and donors that it is acting on issues of public concern and strengthening compliance, which will in turn boost public confidence that the sector is doing the right thing.

By increasing public trust and confidence in charities and the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission, this reform will help to ensure donors and philanthropists continue their support for the sector. This will contribute to the government's commitment to doubling philanthropy by 2030.

This builds on our government's work to strengthen Australia's civic fabric. Since coming to office, we have created a new pathway for community foundations to gain deductible gift recipient status and streamlined deductible gift recipient applications for environmental, harm-prevention, cultural and overseas aid organisations. We appointed widely respected sector expert Sue Woodward as charities commissioner. We refreshed the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission Advisory Board, chaired by Sarah Davies, to better reflect the sector, bringing First Nations, CALD and youth voices to the table. We have been clear that charitable advocacy is welcome, and we have worked with states and territories to harmonise charitable fundraising rules across jurisdictions.

The Australian government has funded a new General Social Survey, adding questions on volunteering and cultural participation to sharpen our understanding of how giving, participation and purpose driven activity benefit communities. We've commissioned a once-in-a-generation Productivity Commission review of philanthropy and set about adopting its recommendations, including scrapping the $2-donation deduction threshold and consulting on increasing the minimum contribution for giving funds. We've begun work on the not-for-profit sector blueprint, whose recommendations span multiple portfolios across government. I thank the many charities and not-for-profits who joined Minister Plibersek and myself for a roundtable at Parliament House on 5 August to discuss boosting productivity in the charity sector.

Schedule 3 changes the frequency of the Financial Regulator Assessment Authority review cycles. Increasing the Financial Regulator Assessment Authority review cycles to every five years will support the Financial Regulator Assessment Authority to deliver more comprehensive reviews of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and the Australian Prudential Regulator Authority. It will facilitate the delivery of more considered recommendations than is possible under the current biennial review cycle, which will improve the effectiveness of our financial system regulators.

Regulators will also have additional time to respond to recommendations between reviews, allowing future panels to assess implementation meaningfully and direct their focus more productively.

Schedules 4 and 5 of the bill amend various laws in the Treasury portfolio to ensure those laws operate in accordance with policy intent, make minor changes to improve administrative outcomes and remedy unintended consequences, as well as correct technical and drafting defects.

The Legislative and Governance Forum for Corporations was notified in relation to amendments in schedules 4 and 5 of the bill in accordance with clauses 506 and 507 of the Corporations Agreement 2002.

The states and territories were notified in relation to amendments in schedule 5 of the bill in accordance with subclause 33(f) of the Intergovernmental Agreement on National Competition Policy 2024.

Schedule 6 of the bill supports the Albanese government's ongoing efforts to improve electricity affordability and protect consumers in the energy market.

The value provided by existing consumer protections in the energy market was recently reinforced by the review into the effectiveness of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Prohibiting Energy Market Misconduct) Act 2019. The review examined retail and wholesale consumer protections embedded in part XICA of the Competition and Consumer Act. It found that the provisions in part XICA, created through the Treasury Laws Amendment (Prohibiting Energy Market Misconduct) Act 2019 had, on balance, likely been effective in constraining market misconduct and protecting consumers. To maintain those protections, the government is taking action to extend the sunset date of these provisions to 1 January 2031.

This work is part of a broader strategy to support the energy transition while maintaining affordability and fairness. It complements other initiatives as part of the energy transition and ensures that consumers remain protected. The relevant provisions are outlined in schedule 6, which detail the legislative amendments required to extend the sunsetting date of the consumer protections to 1 January 2031.

Schedule 7 of the bill amends the Income Tax (Transitional Provisions) Act 1997 to extend the $20,000 instant asset write-off until 30 June 2026, to improve cash flow and reduce compliance costs for small business.

Up to 4.1 million small businesses, with aggregated annual turnover of less than $10 million, will be able to immediately deduct eligible assets costing less than $20,000 until 30 June 2026.

The $20,000 threshold will apply on a per asset basis, so small businesses can instantly write off multiple assets.

Assets costing $20,000 or more can be placed into the small business simplified depreciation pool and depreciated at 15 per cent per year in the first income year and 30 per cent each income year thereafter.

Economic research into the benefits of accelerated depreciation dates back to the seminal work in 1967 of Robert Hall and Dale Jorgenson in the American Economic Review. Having studied under Dale Jorgenson, who died in 2022, it is a pleasure to be introducing a measure that follows in his intellectual legacy.

By allowing an immediate deduction, the instant asset write-off provides a sharper incentive for small businesses across the economy to invest in new equipment and technology, helping boost their productivity. Full details of the measures are contained in the explanatory memorandum.

Debate adjourned.