Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I move amendments (1) and (2) on sheet 1354 together:

(1) Clause 2, page 2 (table items 3 and 4), omit the table items.

(2) Schedule 2, page 25 (line 1) to page 38 (line 8), to be opposed.

I am moving these amendments as flagged in my second reading contribution and to mirror what the member for Whitlam in the other place did. These amendments are very simple. They remove schedule 2 from the Treasury Laws Amendment (2021 Measures No. 1) Bill 2021. Labor does not support the weakening of continuous disclosure rules and damaging corporate transparency. The measures contained in schedule 2 would make it easier for companies and company directors to get away with withholding information or providing misleading information to shareholders. Without corporate disclosure rules, dodgy directors can get away with not releasing crucial information to shareholders, and the overwhelming majority of good directors know that this is not in anyone's interests. I went through this in more detail in my second reading contribution. Labor strongly supports this amendment and we would urge the Senate to support it as well.