BUSINESS

Senator GALLAGHER (Australian Capital Territory—Minister for Finance, Minister for the Public Service, Minister for Women, Minister for Government Services and Manager of Government Business in the Senate) (12:24): We won't be supporting the suspension of standing orders either and for similar reasons, noting it's a political stunt. We can take that as given.

The second point is that we were only provided with this bill less than an hour ago, I would think, when it was introduced. From what we can see, it deals with one area that we were aware of, but it also has other amendments. That includes a schedule around capital gains tax which is new and that we have not had any knowledge of prior to it being moved.

It's dealing with employee share schemes as well. So I think it is completely unrealistic to consider that we are in a position to consider this bill today. The third point I'd make is that we have draft legislation out for consultation that will finish on 21 August that deals with this and a couple of other areas.

Again, as we've said from the beginning, we did some big tax reform in the last sitting, with the support of the Greens party, and we made it clear that that was the overarching legislation and that there would be subsequent pieces of legislation that would then follow up to deal with some of the more complex areas of tax law. I remind those opposite that, when the GST was done, there were 30 bills that followed that tax reform.

It needs to be done in a methodical, orderly way, with proper consultation. As such, we won't be supporting the suspension of standing orders. I move: That the question be put.

The PRESIDENT: The question is that the motion by Minister Gallagher to close this suspension debate be agreed to.