The Senate sits for the final time in Canberra this week.
The Property Council remains implacably opposed to those changes in the Treasury Laws (Making Multinationals Pay Their Fair Share-Integrity and Transparency) Bill that harm the genuine city-building business activity of the institutional property sector.
These still exceed the stated and supported tax integrity objectives of the Bill.
Past
- October’s Senate Committee ThinCap report referenced the Property Council 73 times and agreed that Schedule 2 of the Bill be passed subject to technical amendments foreshadowed by Treasury that “better accommodate trust structures, and the function of debt deduction creation rules and the critical anti-avoidance impacts they will have”
- The Government has tabled 89 additional amendments to the legislation following the third round of consultation in October, many in response to the Property Council’s advocacy.
Future
- The strong advocacy work of our Capital Markets Division continues, based on feedback we have received from many of you
- By way of amendment Shadow Minister for Finance Jane Hume and Senator Bragg propose further review of Schedule 2 to the Act
- Senator Pocock is proposing an independent review of the changes made by Schedule 2 after two years.
Readers know access to debt is essential to and underpins new construction of many property assets via trusts in Australia.
While many provisions have been improved, the US and UK frameworks offer solid carve outs for the same transactions precisely because property is not a problem area.
Among other asset creation foregone, if Australia misses the 1 million homes target agreed by National Cabinet this year you can, and we will, lay the blame on the Federal Government’s investment-repelling changes to genuine city-building business activity.
Updates to come.
Update: Late last night the Senate voted to defer the Bill and send it back to the Economics Legislation Committee for further consideration. A win for commonsense though further progress from here will be hard fought.
Jen Williams – Queensland Executive Director to depart
As I said to 1700 of our closest friends at Queensland Christmas lunch on Friday, knowing it also reflects Queensland President Luke Fraser’s view, it is one of the great professional pleasures to have worked with such a passionate and accomplished champion of our industry. I’ll save the proper farewell for the 28 February edition of Property Australia, marking 12 years of exemplary service.
Vale Jeff House
Last Thursday family and friends farewelled Jeff House, taken far too early by cancer. A public servant by inclination and largely by vocation, Jeff worked briefly and colourfully for the Property Council and was thereafter the inaugural National Policy and Public Affairs Manager for the Green Building Council between 2007 to 2009. Jeff was a clever, sharply funny and generous person who enriched many lives. We shall sorely miss him.
Next week, the year in review.