Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Corporate Governance and Responsibility) Share this | Hansard source

I also rise to speak briefly to this report of the Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services, as I have had an interest both as a shadow minister and as a backbencher in the issue of insolvency. I start by echoing the chair’s thanks to the committee secretariat for their contribution in managing this inquiry and this report. My best wishes also go to Mr Palethorpe, and we look forward to welcoming him to the Standing Committee on Finance and Public Administration.

I indicate to the Senate that this committee undertook quite a lengthy inquiry which I was involved in, along with Senator Chapman and Senator Murray, in 2004 in relation to Australia’s insolvency laws. That was quite a comprehensive inquiry and I think a very important and useful contribution to the discussion about the state of Australia’s insolvency laws. We in the Labor Party remain somewhat concerned that there are a number of aspects of the report of that inquiry which the government has as yet failed to act upon. Leaving aside the minority reports from the Australian Democrats and the ALP, there were quite a number of very sound recommendations which had bipartisan support but have not been acted upon.

I am only going to speak briefly in relation to three particular recommendations which I want to emphasise. The first is recommendation 1, which relates to the committee’s previous recommendation in the 2004 report to remove the prerequisite of insolvency for the purposes of the definition of uncommercial transaction. I place on the record our disappointment that the government has not sought to take that recommendation on. I suggest to the chamber that the evidence presented by Treasury on that issue overstated any concern about alteration of that provision. I commend to the government this bipartisan recommendation whereby the committee has suggested a shortening of the time frame—