THE Parliament’s Treaties Committee will hear from Government witnesses at the final hearing into the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) on Monday Morning in Canberra.

Committee Chair, Stuart Robert MP, says the Committee will hear the Government’s response to the range of issues raised during the inquiry.

“While there is broad support for the genuine benefits the TPP will bring, participants in the inquiry have criticised aspects of the Agreement.”

“Contentious issues include the Investor State Dispute Settlement mechanism, aspects of Australian intellectual property law, the temporary entry provisions for professionals, and the transparency of the negotiation process.”

“Government witnesses are expected to address these and other issues during the hearing.”

The Committee’s report on the TPP will be tabled before the end of the year.

During the hearing, the Committee will also be taking evidence on the Partial Revision of the 2012 Radio Regulations.

Mr Robert says people interested in the Committee’s inquiries can visit the Treaties Committee’s website for further information.

Public Hearing: Monday 7 November 2016, Committee Room 2R1, Parliament House, Canberra

8:10am: Radio Regulations - Partial Revision
Department of Communications and the Arts
Australian Communications and Media Authority

8:30am: Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
IP Australia
Department of Health
Department of Immigration and Border Protection
Department of Agriculture and Water Resources
Attorney-General’s Department
Department of Communications
Department of Employment
Department of Finance
Department of Industry, Innovation and Science
The Treasury

The hearing will be broadcast live at aph.gov.au/live.

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THE House Standing Committee on Tax and Revenue has commenced its annual review of the Australian Taxation Office’s 2015-16 Annual Report, which will focus on topics including:

• The Australian Taxation Office’s reform program for taxpayer engagement;
• The ATO’s progress on new technology projects (including uptake of myTax, status of pre‑filling processes, lodgement arrangements and communication methods);  and
• Relationships with tax practitioners—including the new tax agent portal and costs for tax practitioners adopting the Taxation Office’s new technology.

The Chair of the Committee, Mr Kevin Hogan MP, stated that the review provides a key opportunity for the Tax and Revenue Committee to consider the Taxation Office’s administration and outreach, and to examine developments.

He said “These regular review inquiries inform the Parliament of the Taxation Office’s current programs, administration and liaison methods—and importantly can feed into improvements in the Tax Office’s functions and administration and of the operation of the tax system more generally.”

The Committee will conduct hearings with the Taxation Commissioner, Inspector General of Taxation and tax advisory bodies in November 2016. Submissions addressing the focus topics are requested to be lodged by 30 November 2016.

Further details about the inquiry, including the full list of topics to be examined, and how to contribute, can be obtained from the Committee’s website, by contacting the Committee secretariat on 02 6277 4821 or by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The 2016 Annual Report of the Australian Taxation Office is available at the ATO's website.

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IN ITS SUBMISSION to Treasury on the second and third tranches of the superannuation reform package, the Institute of Public Accountants (IPA) has urged the Government not to reduce the cap on concessional superannuation contributions.

“The IPA does not support the reduction of the contributions cap to $25,000 and more so, we do not agree to the reduction of the current cap of $35,000 for individuals aged over 50 years of age,” said IPA chief executive officer, Andrew Conway.

“In fact, people aged over 50 should be encouraged to make further superannuation contributions if they have the capacity, to address any superannuation balance shortfall.

“The situation has been further exacerbated by the Government’s announcement to defer the proposed ‘catch up’ measure until 1 July 2018.  This effectively means the first ‘catch up’ will not take place until the 2019/20 financial year.\

“The deferral was a budgetary decision to partially offset the cost of re-introducing an annual non-concessional contributions cap.

“The current annual concessional contributions cap of $35,000 for over-50s is less than a third of what the cap was 10 years ago.

“The 2010 Henry Tax Review supported a higher contributions cap for Australians aged 50 and over and we support that position.

“Reducing the cap is adverse to Australians building a self-reliant retirement,” said Mr Conway.

publicaccountants.org.au

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THE 16th Russian Resurrection Film Festival will kick off tomorrow night at 7pm with the opening night blockbuster, Icebreaker, ahead of its Russian release.

The festival is proud to welcome Icebreaker's lead star, Sergey Puskepaslis, and Flight Crew's supporting actress, Ekaterina Shpitsa, who will be in attendance on the night.

The screening will be followed by the festival’s renowned and highly anticipated opening night party, at Event Cinemas Myer Centre. In true Russian style, the party will serve up its famous Imperial Vodka cocktails and a bounty of Russian food from Torba Restuarant, accompanied by live music.

Tickets for Brisbane sessions are now on sale, and only a few seats remain for the opening night. To book tickets visit here and you can view the full festival program, visit: http://www.russianresurrection.com/

The highlights include: 

• The recent Cannes Film Festival hit, The Student, from award-winning director Kirill Serebrennikov.

• The wonderful examination of the fractures between love and ambition in Moscow Never Sleeps from Russian-speaking Irish filmmaker Johnny O’Reilly.

• Two huge blockbusters: Flight Crew – the number one film at the 2016 Russian Box Office and

•  Icebreaker – the eagerly awaited action adventure tale which is yet to be released in Russia and is this year's opening night film.

• Alexei Mizgirevs’ historical thriller The Duelist features some of Russia’s biggest film stars.

• A romantic comedy All that Jam, starring Australian actor, Martin Dingle Wall.

• The Good Boy, another romantic comedy, which won this year’s audience award at Kinotavr Film Festival and will release ahead of it's Russian release.

The program also features a retrospective of Russian classics including digitally re-mastered  prints of Alexander Nevsky (1938) by Sergei Eisentein and Dmitri Vasilyev, about one of the greatest Princes in Russian history, King Lear (1971) by Grigori Kozintsev and Ivan the Terrible Parts I and II (1944-58) again by Sergei Eisenstein, which, on Stalin’s orders, was banned at the time of release (Part II, which inevitably led to the cancellation of Part III). 

THE FESTIVAL SCREENING DATES ARE: 

Auckland NZ – 25 October to 30 October
Sydney – 27 October to 05 November
Canberra – 01 November to 06 November
Brisbane – 02 November to 09 November
Perth – 10 November to 16 November
Melbourne – 10 November to 16 November

Cinema details are as follows:
Sydney – Event Cinemas George Street Sydney and Event Cinemas Burwood
Melbourne – Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI), Federation Square, Melbourne
Brisbane – Event Cinemas Myer Centre, Elizabeth Street, Myer Centre, Brisbane
Canberra – Capitol Cinemas Manuka, 6 Franklin Street, Manuka
Perth – Cinema Paradiso, 164 James Street, Northbridge
Auckland – Rialto Cinemas Newmarket, 167-169 Broadway, Newmarket