Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Water) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

That:

(1)

The provisions of paragraphs (5) to (8) of standing order 111 not apply to the Communications Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2008 and the Superannuation Legislation Amendment (Trustee Board and Other Measures) (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2008, allowing them to be considered during this period of sittings.

(2)

That, upon its introduction in the Senate, the Workplace Relations Amendment (Transition to Forward with Fairness) Bill 2008 have precedence over all other business till determined.

I also table statements of reasons justifying the need for these bills mentioned in paragraph (1) to be considered during these sittings and seek leave to have the statements incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The reasons read as follows—

COMMUNICATIONS LEGISLATION AMENDMENT (MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES) BILL 2008

Purpose of the Bill

The bill amends the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 (the BSA) to give the Australian Communications and Media Authority (the ACMA) a discretion to consider late applications for renewals of community broadcasting licences that are made up until the expiry date of the licence. 

Reasons for Urgency

Currently the ACMA has no discretion to accept an application for renewal of a community broadcasting licence after twenty six weeks prior to the licence expiry date, regardless of the circumstances giving rise to the late application. 

There are in excess of 250 Community Broadcasting Licences currently issued by ACMA.  Despite the ACMA monitoring of renewal applications there is a real possibility of late renewal applications being received in the near future.   

There is a moderate to high risk that ACMA could be prevented through legal action from renewing a licence following a late application, even one lodged only a short period outside the 26 week limit.  Such action could be taken by someone wishing to take over the licence from the current holder in order to provide an alternative service, particularly if they had been an applicant in the original licence allocation process. 

If the proposed amendment is not made urgently there is a real possibility of good community broadcasting stations which provide a valuable public service unreasonably losing their licences.  It is the primary purpose of these amendments to avoid a situation where a community broadcaster, providing a valuable public service, could lose its licence as a result of a late application where the broadcaster can show good reasons why that application is late.

SUPERANNUATION LEGISLATION AMENDMENT (TRUSTEE BOARD AND OTHER MEASURES) (CONSEQUENTIAL AMENDMENTS) BILL 2008

Purpose of the Bill

The proposed bill:

• makes minor amendments to the Superannuation Act 1976 and the Superannuation (Productivity Benefit) Act 1988 in relation to changes to the earnings base for superannuation contributions to comply with the Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992 from 1 July 2008;
• makes consequential amendments to a range of legislation following the introduction on 1 July 2006 of a single superannuation board to administer the Commonwealth Superannuation Scheme (CSS), the Public Sector Superannuation Scheme (PSS) and the Public Sector Superannuation Accumulation Plan (PSSAP);
• makes consequential amendments to the invalidity retirement provisions for employees and office holders contained in a range of legislation following the introduction of the PSSAP;
• makes technical amendments to the Parliamentary Contributory Superannuation Act 1948, the Superannuation Act 1922, the Superannuation Act 1976, the Superannuation Act 1990 and the Superannuation (Productivity Benefit) Act 1988 as a consequence of a new regime for managing legislative instruments provided for under the Legislative Instruments Act 2003; and
• repeals the Schedule to the Superannuation Act 1990 which has been obsolete for many years.

Reasons for Urgency

The bill includes provisions which ensure that the Superannuation Act 1976 and the Superannuation (Productivity Benefit) Act 1988 comply with changes to the Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992 that come into effect on 1 July 2008.  These provisions must therefore be in place before 1 July 2008 or the benefits provided under those Acts will not comply with the requirements of the Superannuation Guarantee framework.

I want to make some brief comments about the importance of the Workplace Relations Amendment (Transition to Forward with Fairness) Bill 2008 taking precedence. As the Deputy Prime Minister has indicated, the government regards this bill as key to delivering on aspects of our election commitments. We set out in detail prior to the previous election our approach on industrial relations. It was a matter well litigated. Despite the fact that some on the other side appear not to have understood this, the Australian people made their views in relation to this legislation and the government’s policy abundantly clear.

The government will proceed with this legislation. We expect this legislation to be passed prior to the Easter break. The Deputy Prime Minister has made it clear that this is a priority for us. It is a matter for the opposition. Is the opposition still slavishly tied to its failed Work Choices agenda or will it accept that the Australian people at the last election voted to abolish Work Choices, voted to remove this legislation and voted for Labor’s policy, which was set out in detail prior to the election? I want to emphasise that this was an issue that was well litigated and well traversed prior to the last election. There is a lot of talk in various quarters about mandates. Even the most cynical political observer would say that the government has a mandate on this issue. This was an issue which formed a key and central aspect of the previous election campaign and the months leading up to it.

I would like to also remind the chamber that prior to the last election the Labor Party released two very detailed policies. One was our Forward with Fairness policy and the second was the implementation plan. The bill that is being introduced into the chamber delivers on the commitments that this government made to the Australian people at the last election, and we look forward to its prompt passage through this chamber.