A HOUSE of Representatives committee today announced a new inquiry into the social implications of driverless vehicles.

The Standing Committee on Industry, Innovation, Science and Resources will inquire into the social issues relating to land–based driverless vehicles in Australia, including cars, trucks, buses and trains.

Committee Chair Michelle Landry MP says the inquiry will bridge an important knowledge gap in the growing body of research about this emerging technology.

“Our inquiry will focus on issues such as the social acceptance of the technology, how it might benefit Australians with limited mobility, and the potential social implications for driverless vehicles in the industrial and public transport sectors.”

“Other investigations have started to address the technological aspects of driverless vehicles or possible regulatory approaches, and Australia is already at the forefront of using or trialling this new technology. For example, there is currently a driverless shuttle bus on trial in Perth, millions of tonnes of iron ore are already being transported on driverless haulage trucks, and driverless trains are to be used on a new Sydney metro line.

“This inquiry will take the next step with the Committee seeking to understand and encourage open discussion on some of the complex social issues that have yet to be tackled.”

The full Terms of Reference for the inquiry are set out below.

Submissions are due on 6 February 2017. The Committee will then hear additional evidence at public hearings. To make a submission or find out more about the work of the Committee, please visit the Committee’s website.

Terms of Reference—Driverless Vehicles Inquiry

The Committee will inquire into the current and potential social issues relating to land­ based driverless vehicles in Australia.

The inquiry will consider different types of transport (such as cars, trucks, buses and trains)-as well as different driverless options (such as directly controlled, remotely controlled and fully autonomous vehicles).

In particular, the Committee will inquire into and report on:

1. What social issues are relevant-such as:
   a.       general social acceptance levels
   b.      passenger and non-passenger safety
   c.       legal responsibility and insurance
   d.      potential impacts on employment and different industry sectors (such as the taxi industry)
   e.      access and equity issues (such as increasing individual mobility for the elderly and people with disabilities)
   f.        potential public transport applications
2. How each social issue is being handled—including the opportunities and challenges for each issue
3. Recommendations to progress action on the social issues identified

When undertaking this Inquiry the Committee should have regard to:

• non-social aspects relating to driverless vehicles—such as regulatory status, infrastructure, technological readiness, data management and cyber security  issues
• the experience of other jurisdictions and nations
• how Australia might best position itself to contribute to global driverless vehicle initiatives
• the respective roles of the Australian government, the Australian Parliament, other jurisdictions and other stakeholders
• how issues identified from this inquiry might inform work on other emerging technologies

Interested members of the public may wish to track the committee via the website. 

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THE House Standing Committee on Tax and Revenue has commenced an inquiry into taxpayer engagement, specifically considering the experiences of individuals and small businesses in interacting with the taxation and superannuation system.

The Chair of the Committee, Mr Kevin Hogan MP, said the committee is particularly interested in examining the cash or black economy and the ongoing digitisation of Australia’s taxation system.

“There has been a lot of commentary recently about how to deal with undeclared cash income. This is just one aspect of the inquiry—albeit an important one—as it says just as much about the community’s acceptance of the ‘hidden economy’, as it does about those who do not declare cash income.”

He also noted that, “It is, however, important not to dampen innovation and micro‑business start‑ups, or to create a new unintended black economy in the pursuit of closing the cash economy tax gap.

“We will be very interested to consider the different experiences of both digital natives (who have recently started to, or will soon be paying income tax) and at the other extreme, the older generation of new digital adopters,” Mr Hogan said.

The inquiry will investigate how taxpayers view and operate with each other, with tax agents and other intermediaries—and ultimately with the Australian Taxation Office.

A number of overseas taxation agencies have used behavioural economics to inform the development of their tax systems; in particular, developing the social norm that paying your share of tax is expected behaviour.

“We would like to hear about what taxpayers believe are their—and other taxpayers’—obligations and why they think this way. Furthermore, we’ll be exploring why individuals and small businesses behave in certain ways, not only about lodgement and meeting tax payments but also about declaring taxable income,” Mr Hogan said.

Written submissions addressing one or more aspects of the terms of reference are requested to be lodged by Thursday, 9 February 2017.

Further details about the inquiry, including the full terms of reference, an explanatory paper and information on how to contribute, can be obtained from the Committee’s website at www.aph.gov.au/taxrev or by contacting the Committee secretariat on 02 6277 4821 or emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.           

Interested members of the public may wish to track the committee via the website. 

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THE passage of legislation clearing the way for the re-establishment of the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC), along with the Security of Payments Working Group, marks a new era of fairness and productivity in the building sector, Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO) Kate Carnell said.

“For too long, many small businesses involved in the construction industry have had their livelihoods undermined by unproductive, inappropriate and heavy handed conduct at the hands of unions, who have used their power to either twist the arm of small business owners into signing unfair industrial arrangements, or worse still force the little guys off the project altogether,” Ms Carnell said.

“The re-establishment of the ABCC will ensure there’s a tough cop on the beat; it will prevent union coercion and put a stop to bullying, ensuring mum-and-dad small businesses have greater access to major construction projects, which will ultimately bring down rapidly rising building costs here in Australia.”

Ms Carnell congratulated Senator Nick Xenophon for his work in relation to security of payments for subcontractors.

“For a small business, gaining access to a building site doesn’t mean anything unless you get paid at the end of the day.  The reality is, many small businesses in the building sector have been stung by rogue head contractors who either don’t pay their subbies on time, or worse still, the lead contractor goes bust and simply doesn’t pay their subbies at all,” Ms Carnell said.

“The work by Senator Xenophon regarding security of payments will hopefully help stamp out this practice in the future, so small businesses get paid the money that’s rightfully theirs.

“The role of the new Security of Payments Working Group is something my office will look at as part of our current Payment Times and Practices Inquiry, which is investigating the payment terms of big businesses and governments in relation to their commercial arrangements with small businesses, and the measures that can be implemented in the future to ensure the little guys are paid on time.”

www.asbfeo.gov.au

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THE additional reach of the restored Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) to address militant and unlawful industrial tactics in the offshore resources sector and related supply chains, will provide a massive boost to Australia’s prospects of securing $255bn worth of resources investment still under consideration for our shores.
 
For as long as the federal Coalition, both in opposition and government, has been seeking to restore the ABCC to address escalating union militancy, Australia’s resource industry employer group AMMA has lobbied for its extension to offshore resource construction.
 
“We asked for it, the government saw merit in our proposal, and has now delivered it with the support of the Senate crossbench,” says AMMA chief executive Steve Knott.
 
“While much of the community’s concern in recent years has related to high profile CFMEU thuggery on CBD building sites, there have been escalating strategies by militant unions to hold multi-billion dollar offshore resources projects to ransom for their own agendas.
 
“The Maritime Union of Australia was recently found by the Federal Court to have used safety as a pretext to take illegal strike action against Chevron’s Gorgon LNG project, reportedly costing the project up to $20 million.  Upon being ordered to return to work, there are credible claims the union then used ‘go slow tactics’ to further disrupt the project.
 
“During the construction of Woodside’s Pluto LNG Project, more than 100 workers defied an order from the industrial tribunal and walked off the job, before later being ordered to pay over $1 million in total fines.  Pluto LNG was also subject to further illegal strikes by members of the CFMEU, CEPU and AMWU, resulting in further fines.
 
“This type of industrial extortion may be out-of-sight to the average Australian, but it still hurts our economy and erodes job opportunities.  In the past two years alone, more than $160bn of potential major resources and energy projects have failed to proceed.
 
“By extending the new ABCC’s jurisdiction to offshore resource construction, Australia has sent a signal to the international investment community that we are open for business and want their job-creating capital to come to this country, not our competitors.”
 
Michaelia Cash’s workplace reforms in the national interest:
 
AMMA is unsurprised that the Labor / Greens / Jacqui Lambie alliance fought against the return of the ABCC to the last moment, given Opposition Leader Bill Shorten’s history of condoning the militant and combative tactics of Australia’s most extreme unionists, with no regard to the harm created to industry and Australia’s reputation.
 
Infamously, Mr Shorten told the MUA’s National Conference in 2013 that he wished he could “bottle the spirit” of the militant unionists at the event, just one day after West Australian secretary Chris Cain told members “laws need to be broken, you’re going to get locked up”.
 
“Bill Shorten may have declared he is proud to walk ‘side by side’ with industrial law breakers, but thankfully the majority of Australian Senators have acted in the national interest and said ‘no more, not under out watch’,” Mr Knott continues.
 
“We congratulate the Turnbull Government and those who voted in support of the ABCC legislation, for taking a stand against union militancy and the damage it causes our economy.
 
“AMMA particularly applauds Minister for Employment Michaelia Cash for her recent workplace relations legislative victories. It hasn’t gone unnoticed that the minister has been subjected to juvenile, borderline sexist comments from ALP Senators during the past week.
 
“It is a credit to Senator Cash, also Minister for Women, that she ignored such bile and got on with turning Coalition pre-election workplace relations policies into law.  Based on these results Senator Cash is clearly one of Malcolm Turnbull's most effective Cabinet Ministers.
 
“With the ABCC and Registered Organisations changes now passed, another issue critical to our industry is ensuring the proposed merger of Australia’s two most militant unions, the CFMEU and MUA, is subject to a test against the public interest, as a comparable corporate merger would be.
 
“Given the deplorable conduct of these unions and their unparalleled record of breaching Australia’s workplace laws, their merger would be very unlikely to pass such a test until they could demonstrate compliance with Australia’s workplace laws over a sustained period.
 
“Once these matters of union compliance, transparency and lawfulness are dealt with, as a nation we can move on to the type of fundamental workplace relations reform that will create jobs and build the strength of our economy, starting with the recommendations the Productivity Commission handed down some 12 months ago.”

www.amma.org.au

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