Nigel Scullion (NT, Country Liberal Party, Minister for Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Leyonhjelm for the amendments. We won't be supporting the amendments as we, as with those opposite, are committed to assisting the operation of future royal commissions, consistent with the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption.

The bill actually increases the penalties for failure to comply with compulsory notices to attend or produce documents to a commission, which implements recommendations 78 of the final report of the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption. In making the recommendations, Commissioner Dyson Heydon observed that the existing penalties were manifestly inadequate. Currently a penalty of up to two years imprisonment is consistent with penalties for failure to comply with similar processes like those of ATSIC or the Law Enforcement Integrity Commission, so penalties for these offences will increase.

I don't have data, Senator, on how many people necessarily had been fined. You've indicated that you haven't seen anyone be imprisoned for six months, but it is actually $1,000 or a six-month imprisonment, and it goes to two years imprisonment. There's no reference to a pecuniary penalty in the bill, because the court has the discretion to impose a pecuniary penalty instead of or in addition to imprisonment, which is in section 4B of the Crimes Act. For two years in imprisonment, the complementary pecuniary penalty is an amount of up to $25,200 for a natural person—currently the value of a penalty unit. I note that, since the bill was introduced, the amount of a penalty unit has increased from $180 for each penalty unit, as reflected in the explanatory memorandum, to $210 per unit from 1 July 2017. Other changes to penalties proposed in this bill do not increase the penalty but just convert the dollar amount to a penalty unit amount consistent with current Commonwealth drafting practice.

Question negatived.

Bill agreed to.

Bill reported without amendment; report adopted.