Jacinta Collins (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for School Education and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That these bills be now read a second time.

I seek leave to have the second reading speeches incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The speeches read as follows—

CUSTOMS AMENDMENT (MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES) BILL 2012

The Customs Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2012 is an omnibus bill, which makes a number of amendments to the Customs Act as part of the Government's program of regulatory improvement.

Firstly, the Bill will amend the Customs Act to make it an offence to bring into Australia without a permit, certain prescribed prohibited imports to be known as restricted goods. This is different to the current offence, which requires the goods to be imported in order for an offence to be committed. Initially, the new category of restricted goods will be limited to child pornography and child abuse material. In future, this could be extended to give effect to international agreements or to address matters of international concern and could be applied to any purpose related to external affairs.

Reflecting the serious nature of the offence, the Bill proposes that it carries a maximum penalty of 1000 penalty units, which is similar to the penalties for the unlawful importation or exportation of goods.

Customs controlled areas form an important part of Customs and Border Protection's control mechanisms at airports and ports. They give officers the ability to question non-travellers, to restrict access for non-travellers, or to remove them from certain areas when Customs and Border Protection is performing its function. The Bill makes minor changes to ensure Customs and Border Protection is able to set up permanent and temporary Customs controlled areas in the maritime and air environments when dealing with aircraft and ships carrying only crew and when processing cruise ships.

This Bill implements a number of measures that clarify intent, remove redundant regulation and reduce the compliance burden for industry. This includes making it clear that self-powered ships and aircraft that are imported or intended to be imported are subject to the control of Customs and should be entered for home consumption. The Bill will also allow the CEO to request additional information from an applicant for a warehouse licence which will enable issues to be clarified without the need for industry to submit a further application.

The Bill makes minor changes to the valuation provisions, ensuring consistency with the World Trade Organization Customs Valuation Agreement.

Finally, the Bill will repeal expired moratorium periods for electronic cargo reporting and repeal the legislation that refers to the accredited client program. Technology improvements and changes in the policy, procedural and cost environment meant that the program was not implemented operationally.

Customs and Border Protection consulted industry through the release of an exposure draft of the Bill in September 2012.

Key stakeholders such as Shipping Australia, QANTAS, and CAPEC have all responded positively to these changes. Operationally, they make little changes in the way these organisations and their stakeholders do business, but clarify their obligations under the Customs Act.

FINANCIAL FRAMEWORK LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL (NO. 4) 2012

The Financial Framework Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 4) 2012 would, if enacted, amend 5 Acts across 3 portfolios.

It is the twelfth Financial Framework Legislation Amendment Bill since 2004. It forms part of an ongoing program to address financial framework issues as they are identified and assists in ensuring that specific provisions in existing legislation remain clear and up-to-date.

Keeping the existing financial framework legislation up-to-date is also consistent with the reforms foreshadowed in the Government's proposed Commonwealth Financial Accountability Review.

First, the Bill would amend the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997 to substitute references to "Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines" with "guidelines in relation to procurement", given the recent change in name of the guidelines to the Commonwealth Procurement Rules.

Second, the Bill would amend the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 to provide the Director of National Parks with greater autonomy to enter into contracts with an increased threshold of $1 million from the current $250,000.

Third, the Bill would amend the Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas Management Act 1989 to establish a special appropriation for the purpose of making remissions or refunds of import levies and manufacture levies, including those related to synthetic greenhouse gas management equipment.

Fourth, the Bill would establish a framework for dealing with overpayments, within the Papua New Guinea (Staffing Assistance) Act 1973, and to address instances where payments are made from an annual appropriation to recipients, that are not, in practice, consistent with the requirements or preconditions imposed by this Act and risk breaching section 83 of the Constitution. This amendment flows from the amendments delivered by the Financial Framework Legislation Amendment Act (No. 2) 2012.

Finally, the Bill would amend the Public Accounts and Audit Committee Act 1951 to update labels of defined terms "the Chairman" and "the Vice-Chairman" with the gender neutral terms "Chair" and "Deputy Chair".

This short Bill is, accordingly, another step to help ensure that specific areas of the Commonwealth's financial framework remain effective and up-to-date.

INTERNATIONAL TAX AGREEMENTS AMENDMENT BILL 2012

Today I introduce this Bill, which will amend the International Tax Agreements Act 1953 and give the force of law in Australia to new bilateral taxation agreements with India, the Marshall Islands and Mauritius.

The agreement with India is a Protocol that will amend the current Australia–India tax treaty signed in 1991. The Protocol will promote closer economic cooperation between Australia and India by aligning the taxation of business profits and cross border services with international taxation norms and by including rules to prevent tax discrimination.

The Protocol will also improve the integrity of the Australian tax system through enhanced exchange of information provisions and new provisions providing for mutual assistance in the collection of tax debts.

The bilateral agreements with the Marshall Islands and Mauritius eliminate double taxation on certain income derived by individuals, in particular government workers, students and business apprentices, and pensioners and retirees.

The Marshall Islands and Mauritius are required to provide reciprocal taxation treatment in relation to Australian government employees, students and business apprentices, retirees and pensioners.

These two agreements will also provide a mutual agreement procedure for the resolution of taxpayer disputes involving transfer pricing adjustments.

These agreements follow Australia concluding tax information exchange agreements with the Marshall Islands and Mauritius, which establish a legal basis for the exchange of taxpayer information between two countries and are an important tool in Australia's efforts to combat tax avoidance and evasion.

The agreements with India, the Marshall Islands and Mauritius will enter into force after Australia exchanges diplomatic notes with each of the other countries advising of the completion of their respective domestic law requirements.

OFFSHORE PETROLEUM AND GREENHOUSE GAS STORAGE AMENDMENT (COMPLIANCE MEASURES) BILL 2012

The recent tragic accident on the Stena Clyde rig in the Otway Basin, located in the Bass Strait, which resulted in the deaths of two employees during drilling operations, represents an unfortunate example of the serious and inherent risks associated with the offshore industry.

This incident follows the uncontrolled release of hydrocarbons from the Montara Wellhead platform in August 2009, off the northern coast of Western Australia, and the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon on 20 April 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico.

Collectively, these events demonstrate and emphasise the need for a strong, effective and properly resourced offshore petroleum regulatory regime, to safeguard both human health and safety as well as the Australian marine environment.

The amendments contained in this bill largely continue the work of the Australian government to implement the lessons learnt and agreed in response to the report of the Montara Commission of Inquiry. I have more amendments I intend to introduce in the parliament in 2013 to further implement agreed recommendations coming out of the Montara report.

This bill amends the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 to strengthen the offshore petroleum regulatory regime with respect to compliance, safety integrity and environmental management objectives.

The amendments seek to clarify and strength the compliance monitoring, investigation and enforcement powers of the National Offshore Petroleum Regulator and ensure that enforcement measures for contraventions of the act are appropriate in application and severity in the context of a high-hazard industry.

The bill also makes important amendments to provide parties responsible for administration of the act and associated regulations the ability to share information with each other and with other relevant Commonwealth and state and territory bodies. Information will be shared in circumstances where it is appropriate in order to enable those bodies to adequately discharge their legislative functions and powers.

To provide some further context to the amendments, the June 2010 report of the Montara Commission of Inquiry made several recommendations proposing amendments to the offshore petroleum regulatory regime. To give effect to these recommendations the Australian government undertook a comprehensive review of legislation applicable to offshore petroleum activities and the marine environment.

The legislative review

The bill amends the act to implement a number of the findings of the legislative review which aim to strengthen the operating practices of the offshore petroleum industry and provide additional enforcement powers to regulators.

The legislative review proposed, and the Australian government agreed, that due consideration be given to effecting several changes to the act including: the introduction of a civil penalty regime; increases to the current criminal penalty levels under the act to achieve consistency with compliance offences in other major hazard industry legislation; ensuring that penalties, including custodial penalties, for occupational health and safety offences under the act be harmonised with the Work Health and Safety Act 2011, or made greater as appropriate to reflect the serious consequences potentially resulting from regulatory breaches in a major hazard industry; and redrafting the National Offshore Petroleum Safety Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) inspectorate powers to provide greater clarity and consistency between the various powers of each category of inspector and remove unnecessary procedural requirements that are likely to impede NOPSEMA's ability to effectively perform its enforcement functions.

The introduction of civil penalties represents a significant first step in providing alternative enforcement tools, which will enable the regulator to select and apply an appropriate and proportionate regulatory response, depending upon the nature and relative seriousness of the breach that has occurred, and the regulatory response or action which is considered appropriate given the overall set of circumstances.

In addition, the application of civil penalties in the form of financial sanctions as a supplement or alternative to the existing criminal penalties and set at an appropriate level to reflect the nature of the offshore petroleum industry as a high-hazard industry is intended to encourage improved compliance with the act.

This will further enhance the existing objective based regime by supporting continuous improvement by industry, which is responsible under the regime to demonstrate to the regulator that the risk of operations are reduced as low as reasonably practicable.

Another critical measure contained in this bill is that which enables the parties responsible for the administration of the act to share regulatory information in appropriate circumstances. Currently, the act does not include the express provision to enable information obtained during the exercise of powers and functions under the act and regulations to be appropriately shared with other parties.

This legal issue in the offshore regulatory regime was highlighted during federal court proceedings initiated by a company against investigators in 2009 where an injunction was successfully obtained to prevent the sharing of regulatory information during an investigation into the death of a worker.

In the absence of an express provision, it has become evident that there is such potential detrimental legal impediments to regulators being able to share information—where it may be appropriate to do so—for such purposes of a joint investigation to comprehensively investigate an incident and pursue a successful prosecution of companies at fault or to educate other regulators about potential operational risks that have been discovered during the course of compliance monitoring or investigations.

In addition to this proposed amendment to the act, the Commonwealth is working together with the states and the Northern Territory to ensure that similar provisions are incorporated into relevant state and territory legislation to facilitate mutual information sharing, which will ensure that a comprehensive and effective approach to multijurisdictional compliance activities and investigations is possible.

Finally, the bill also implements a decision to remove the responsible state minister for Tasmania, as is his state's preference, from the joint authority arrangements in the offshore regulatory regime.

The current set of amendments will go some way towards addressing issues identified as arising from the Montara incident in August 2009.

However, I also remain committed to the continuing improvement of the offshore regulatory regime and, in line with this commitment, I have a number of further measures currently under consideration developed for progression in 2013, including consideration of a range of further alternative compliance and enforcement tools recommended in the legislative review to strengthen the ability of the regulator to enforce critical safety and environmental management requirements to help protect the Australian offshore workforce and marine environment.

In summary, through a range of measures, including: the introduction of a civil penalty regime; increases to criminal penalty levels contained in the act for offshore health and safety and environmental management; offences to achieve consistency with penalties for comparable offences in Australian legislation, including other major hazard industry legislation; redrafting the inspectorate powers to provide greater clarity and consistency between the various powers of each category of inspector; and remove unnecessary procedural requirements that are likely to impede the regulator's ability to effectively enforce the functions.

This bill underscores the government's commitment to the maintenance and continuing improvement of a strong effective framework for the regulation of offshore petroleum activities.

I commend the bill to the Senate.

PROTECTION OF CULTURAL OBJECTS ON LOAN BILL 2012

The introduction of the Protection of Cultural Objects on Loan Bill 2012 comes at an exciting time for arts and culture in Australia.

In line with the Government's Australia in the Asian Century White Paper, we are deepening our arts and cultural ties with Asia.

And the Government is finalising the first National Cultural Policy in 20 years, which will bring the vast array of stakeholders, art forms, opportunities and investment needs together in a comprehensive policy.

This bill will further develop our cultural wealth by encouraging loans of significant cultural objects from overseas for temporary public exhibition in Australia.

Every year millions of Australians visit our major national, state and territory cultural institutions. These audiences expect to see the best Australia and the world can offer.

This year alone has seen works of old Spanish masters at the Queensland Art Gallery, ten centuries of manuscripts at the National Library of Australia and the genius of Picasso at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Soon we will see Toulouse-Lautrec's view of Parisian life at the National Gallery of Australia and ancient treasures from Afghanistan at four museums around the country, including Museum Victoria and the Western Australian Museum.

The ability to borrow these objects enriches the cultural experience for Australian audiences, draws visitors from far and wide, and delivers significant economic benefits.

The resounding success of the Renaissance exhibition, held at the National Gallery of Australia last summer, shows the scale of this economic dividend. It attracted almost 213,000 visitors and brought an estimated $75 million to the local economy.

But despite the popularity of these exhibitions, in the past ten years it has become increasingly difficult for Australia's major galleries, libraries and museums to secure overseas loans.

Australia, unlike numerous other countries, does not have comprehensive legislation providing protection for cultural objects on loan from overseas.

Under existing Commonwealth legislation, protection for cultural objects on loan only applies in specific and limited circumstances under the Protection of Movable Cultural Heritage Act 1986.

Although the risk of legal claims being made on cultural objects while they are on loan in Australia is low, foreign lenders are increasingly reluctant to loan to Australia's major cultural institutions in the absence of national legislation. As a result, loan negotiations between Australian cultural institutions and foreign lenders have become protracted and in some cases loans have been denied.

This legislation will address those concerns.

It will protect cultural objects on loan by limiting the circumstances in which ownership or physical possession, custody or control of the objects can be affected while they are in Australia.

Objects will be protected if they are imported into Australia for temporary public exhibition under arrangements involving an institution approved by the Minister.

This scheme does not abrogate cultural institutions from the need to undertake rigorous due diligence and provenance research.

On the contrary, in order to be approved, institutions will be required to demonstrate that they have the necessary expertise, rigour, capacity and resources to meet the demands established by the scheme, including exercising appropriate due diligence.

The inclusion of these requirements supports Australia's continued ability to meet its international obligations under the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property.

The Bill only limits the legal action that can be taken while objects are in Australia on loan. It does not affect the ability of a potential claimant to take legal action in the jurisdiction where the object is usually held.

To encourage the loan of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander objects to Australia, the Bill will apply to most of those objects held in foreign collections.

This will provide opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to re-connect with their culture and facilitate further engagement and relationships between overseas institutions and Indigenous communities. It will also enable all Australians to engage with and be invigorated by our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural heritage.

However, in recognition that some Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander material is particularly sensitive and culturally important, the Bill will not apply to significant Australian heritage objects that are identified as Class A objects under the Protection of Movable Cultural Heritage Act 1986. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander material in that category includes human remains, bark and log coffins, secret sacred ritual material, rock art and dendroglyphs (carved trees).

This legislation is also consistent with the Australian Government's commitment to facilitating the unconditional repatriation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ancestral remains and secret sacred objects to their communities of origin.

Consultation is an important element of the scheme and requirements will be included in the regulations. There will be specific consultation requirements for proposed loans of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander material to enable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and groups to be actively involved in discussions about proposed loans before objects come to Australia.

Further transparency will be built into the scheme through regulations requiring the publication of information on objects proposed for loan prior to their importation. This is an important mechanism to assist persons who may be seeking to locate objects they believe were unlawfully taken.

The introduction of this legislation will align Australia with an emerging international standard of providing protection for cultural objects on loan from overseas.

It will reassure foreign lenders that Australia is a secure destination for loans and enable our great cultural institutions to successfully compete for world class exhibitions.

Broad consultation, including many submissions in response to a 2011 discussion paper, demonstrate strong support for Commonwealth legislation on this issue.

This support extends from the collections sector to state and territory cultural ministers and to the tourism and hospitality sectors. It reflects an acknowledgment of the direct benefits that major international exhibitions deliver to the Australian economy.

I would like to acknowledge the role of former Director of the Art Gallery of New South Wales Ed Capon in bringing the issue to the attention of state, territory and Federal governments at the August meeting of Cultural Ministers last year. I also acknowledge the effective collaboration of museums and galleries and state governments with Federal agencies which has led to a solution.

Many of Australia's leading museums and galleries are planning ambitious future exhibition programs. This bill will provide vital support to those activities.

Governments must invest in the arts. A vibrant arts sector delivers a social dividend of creativity, communication, respect, inclusion and teamwork – values this nation cherishes.

There is also an economic dividend. The evidence shows that creative nations are productive and resilient nations.

This bill directly supports the future of international cultural exhibitions. It will benefit our cultural institutions, our economy and ensure Australians continue to have access to the world's riches of art and culture.

Debate adjourned.

Ordered that the bills be listed on the Notice Paper as separate orders of the day