AN INQUIRY into whether Australia should adopt ‘Magnitsky-style’ laws will hear from world champion chess grandmaster and human rights commentator Gary Kasparov at a teleconference hearing this week.

The inquiry, run by the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, Human Rights Sub-committee will be led by Sub-Committee chair Kevin Andrews MP, who said the Sub-Committee was looking forward to the opportunity to speak to Mr Kasparov.

"In addition to his career as a professional chess player, Mr Kasparov has become notable in recent years for his advocacy for democratic principles around the world, and for his criticism of elements of the Russian Government," Mr Andrews said.

"Mr Kasparov has been a strong advocate for Magnitsky-style legislation in other jurisdictions, and we are grateful that he has agreed to provide his perspective on such legislation in an Australian context."

Also appearing at the hearing will be retired Australian diplomat Tony Kevin. In contrast with Mr Kasparov, Mr Kevin opposes Magnitsky-style legislation, writing in a submission to the inquiry that in his view such laws violate "international law and commonly accepted international practice".

"While submissions to the inquiry have been overwhelmingly supportive of targeted sanctions, the committee has noted some evidence with differing views," Mr Andrews said.

"This public hearing will give the Sub-Committee the opportunity to interrogate arguments both for and against Magnitsky-style legislation in detail."

More information about this inquiry, including submissions received by the Committee to date, is available on the Committee’s website.

Public hearing details

Date: Thursday 25 June 2020
Time: 3:15pm – 4.45pm
Location: Via teleconference

The hearings will be streamed at aph.gov.au/live.

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THE NSW Government has launched a new suite of guidance materials to help all types of businesses manage the risk of COVID-19.

Minister for Better Regulation, Kevin Anderson said these new materials had been specifically created for non-customer facing businesses, to ensure everyone has access to industry specific, practical guidance to prevent the spread of the virus.

“About 45,000 businesses have already downloaded the NSW Government’s COVID Safety Plans, and we’ve now created additional resources for offices, construction sites, farms, and manufacturing premises,” Mr Anderson said.

“The materials being made available include practical, inexpensive guidance that will no doubt inspire some innovative strategies as they are put into play.”

For example, in an office environment, a safety plan can be tailored to variables such as numbers of staff, whether the building has lifts, shared amenities or hot desks.

“Common misconceptions for office workers are that hot-desking is banned, and that only one person can ride in a lift at a time. That’s simply not true so long as you clean your desk thoroughly before and after use, and maintain a social distance within the lift,” Mr Anderson said.

“Ultimately we want to focus on getting NSW’s economy back up and running and providing businesses with the right guidance to operate safely and successfully in the current climate.

“I encourage every business to jump online and download these simple yet powerful tools to map out a safe way back to business that puts customers and workers front and centre.”

The new campaign materials including social media tiles, downloadable posters and checklists for all NSW offices are available at www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/industry-guidelines/office-environment-including-call-centres

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THE Queensland Resources Council has welcomed the Federal Government’s $125 million funding extension to Geoscience Australia’s Exploring for the Future (EFTF) Program.

QRC chief executive Ian Macfarlane said the investment would lead to a clearer understanding of the geological structures in Queensland and Australia.

“This is a vote of confidence in the exploration industry from the Morrison Government and I congratulate the Federal Resources Minister Keith Pitt for backing the exploration industry which is hurting from the economic impacts from COVID-19," Mr Macfarlane said. 

“Geoscientific data plays a critical role in framing policy settings from government and this program provides an in-depth understanding of our resource assets which belong to all Queenslanders.”

QRC’s exploration focused member organisation the Queensland Exploration Council (QEC) said this program was a vital tool for the exploration industry. 

“Queensland is blessed with a rich source of minerals and the skilled people to find them. Connecting this to supportive governments will ensure the minerals discovered today are the foundations of tomorrow’s resources industry,” QEC chair Kim Wainwright said.

‘Industry has long understood the return on investment potential of geoscience data and the recent ACIL Allen analysis showed the total potential benefits flowing from the activities in the current EFTF could be between $446 million and $2.5 billion."

The EFTF program has been in operation for four years.  

Link to Geoscience Australia’s Exploring for the Future (EFTF) Program: https://www.ga.gov.au/eftf

Link to ACIL Allen analysis: https://www.acilallen.com.au/projects/program-evaluation/exploring-for-the-future-program-return-on-investment-analysis

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FOLLOWING a recent investigation, the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) found that tax agent Peter Biantes had attempted to conceal over $35 million dollars of income from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) through the creation of multiple overseas entities.

Accordingly, the TPB terminated his tax agent registration, and banned him for the maximum period of five years.

In doing so, the TPB found that Mr Biantes had:

• deliberately tried to avoid the tax implications of the sale of a business, intentionally misled the ATO, and obstructed the proper administration of the taxation laws;
• made false statements to the TPB in two of his annual declarations and an application for renewal of registration;
• repeatedly failed to comply with taxation laws in the conduct of his affairs including in relation to the timeliness and accuracy of his tax returns.

Speaking about the case, chair of the TPB, Ian Klug AM said, "Through serious and repeated misconduct, Mr Biantes attempted to undermine the integrity of the taxation system. Terminating and banning an agent from applying for registration is the firmest sanction that can be imposed by the board and is never taken lightly. The severity of Mr Biantes’ conduct requires the maximum ban to be imposed."

"The TPB is committed to targeting practitioners who undertake, or facilitate, black economy behaviour and tax evasion through schemes such as offshoring and failing to declare proceeds and profits. Where we discover this behaviour, we will act swiftly and take strong action."

About the Tax Practitioners Board

The Tax Practitioners Board regulates tax practitioners in order to protect consumers. The TPB aims to assure the community that tax practitioners meet appropriate standards of professional and ethical conduct. TPB is on Twitter @TPB_gov_au, Facebook and LinkedIn

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