Companies (Levies) Amendment Bill

Members, we come now to our final debate, clauses 1 to 3. This is the debate on the title, commencement, and principal Act.

Thank you, Mr Chair. I just want to offer a perspective on the title, the Companies (Levies) Amendment Bill. If we think about the proposal that was brought to the Finance and Expenditure Committee only a few short months ago, which apparently was intended to correct a longstanding issue where the Ministry of Business, Employment, Immigration—have I got that right, Maureen Pugh? The MBIE—

CHAIRPERSON (Greg O’Connor): It’s traditional that you ask the question of the Minister, Mr Court.

Mr Chair, for a moment I thought I was being offered advice by Maureen Pugh.

💬 Maureen Pugh: No, it’s above my pay scale.

That would have been really stretching it. So if we think about the title of this bill, previously many of these registers, they collected fees. And what we understood was that the fees could only be applied to the administration of each of the 21 individual registers, which, as I mentioned before, included things like building societies, charities, and—my favourite—Coastguard, which I’m a member of and donate to. And there are many that are actually very, very successful membership-based organisations and others such as the union-based organisations, which will also collect dues and then be required, in the past—

CHAIRPERSON (Greg O’Connor): Mr Court, we’re going two minutes; I can usually get some direction you might be going towards. This is a very narrow part of this bill, which is the title, commencement, and principal Act. So perhaps we could steer ourselves towards there.

Thank you, Mr Chair. So the title, the Companies (Levies) Amendment Bill, correctly identifies what the function of the Companies Office will be with respect to these 21 different registers in future. But, Minister, I’d like to ask you a question. Is it correct that it could have been called something like the “Companies (Not Just Levies But Fees) Amendment Bill”? Because, actually, some of the organisations could have preferred to continue paying a fee, knowing that they were getting direct value for the fee, whereas now they’ll be paying a levy which actually could be used to cover the costs of, say, administering the climate-related disclosures or, actually, a very complex and mushrooming union movement, which has been legislated into being through the fair—or unfair, depending, for an employer or a union rep—pay agreements. So, Minister, would you tell us: were any other titles considered, apart from the Companies (Levies) Amendment Bill, for this bill?

No.

I move, That the question be now put.

Motion agreed to.

Bill to be reported with amendment.

House resumed.

Madam Speaker, the committee has considered the Companies (Levies) Amendment Bill and reports it with amendment. I move, That the report be adopted.

Motion agreed to.

Report adopted.

Third Reading