THE Electoral Matters Committee has commenced a review into the Commonwealth Electoral Amendment (Ensuring Fair Representation of the Northern Territory) Bill 2020.

The bill, introduced to the Senate by Senator Malarndirri McCarthy and Senator the Hon Don Farrell, would amend the Commonwealth Electoral Act to provide for a minimum of two divisions for the Northern Territory in the House of Representatives.

Analysis from the Parliamentary Library has projected the possibility of the Northern Territory losing one of its two House of Representatives seats before the next federal election, caused by its population falling below the entitlement quota for the second seat.

The Committee invites written submissions addressing any or all aspects of the bill.

Prospective submitters are advised that any submission to the Committee’s inquiry must be prepared solely for the inquiry and should not be published prior to being accepted by the Committee.

Submissions are requested by 10 July 2020. Further information about making a submission to a committee inquiry can be found at the following link.

Further information on the inquiry can be obtained from the Committee’s website.

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THE Joint Standing Committee on Treaties will conduct a new inquiry into the treaty-making process, with a particular focus on trade-related treaties.

“This inquiry will examine the process of consultation undertaken during the negotiation of trade agreements and consider the effectiveness of independent economic analysis in informing these negotiations, with a view to making recommendations to government,” said Committee Chair Dave Sharma MP.

“This has been a topic of growing community and stakeholder interest,” Mr Sharma said.

Committee Deputy Chair Peter Khalil MP said, “Importantly this inquiry will give key stakeholders and the broader Australian community the opportunity to have their say. We look forward to hearing from as many voices as possible as we consider the trade-agreement making process."

The Committee has welcomed the referral from Senator Marise Payne, Minister for Foreign Affairs, and is looking forward to the opportunity to hear from experts and stakeholders.

The Joint Standing Committee on Treaties will inquire into certain aspects of the treaty making process, including:

• considering the role of JSCoT in respect of trade-related agreements, including during the negotiation phase;
• considering the consultation process undertaken by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) before and during the negotiation of trade agreements;
• considering the effectiveness of independent analysis to inform negotiation or consideration of trade agreements; and
• reviewing process around the categorisation of treaty actions.

Submissions are invited by July 31, with public hearings to be held during sitting weeks in August. Information on the progress of the inquiry will be available from the Committee’s webpage.

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THE Queensland Government is being urged to intervene following revelations that Cairns-based shipping provider Sea Swift — purchased last year for $300 million by the Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC) — was slashing jobs and outsourcing maintenance work to Indonesia.

The Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) said it was unacceptable that a major local employer indirectly owned by the Queensland public through QIC was using the current COVID-19 health crisis to make skilled workers forcibly redundant while sending their work overseas.

The union highlighted the case of a Sea Swift vessel which was docked in Batam, Indonesia, last December to undergo a refit. When Australian seafarers arrived to sail it back to Queensland, they refused to depart port, describing it as being uninhabitable and not safe to go to sea.

MUA Queensland assistant branch secretary Paul Gallagher said workers at the company were demanding action from the Queensland Government and QIC.

“The hands-off approach by the Queensland Government and QIC while their wholly-owned business is slashing jobs and outsourcing work to third world countries is simply unacceptable,” Mr Gallagher said.

“We need urgent leadership from QIC and the State Government to ensure this business owned by Queensland taxpayers acts in an ethical and socially responsible manner.

“The fact is that just months after QIC bought Sea Swift, the company sent a vessel to Indonesia to undergo a refit — work that should have been done locally at the Tropical Reef Shipyard in Cairns.

“Now, under the cover of the COVID-19 health crisis, Sea Swift has slashed 15 percent of the skilled workers in their Cairns engineering department.”

Mr Gallagher said Sea Swift executives had led an anti-union and anti-worker culture at the business, which was linked to the recent outsourcing and job cuts.

“Sea Swift’s anti-union and anti-worker culture has been clearly demonstrated by their refusal for five years to allow officials their basic legal right to board vessels and speak to union members,” he said.

“The company has also spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees tying up their industrial agreement in a complicated legal stalemate in the Fair Work Commission. The result is that they continue to operate under what is known as a ‘zombie’ enterprise agreement: one that is basically dead, has very little chance of getting legitimised, but still lives on.

“Five years ago, when the MUA fought for and won the right to have the agreement measured by the Seagoing Industry Award 2010, the company agreed to negotiate a new agreement, but since then they have refused to finalise it.

“Their aim throughout these years of dispute has been to achieve an outcome where they can pay local workers below the seagoing award," Mr Gallagher said.

“Sea Swift also refused to support a union initiative to create secure jobs for First Nations people in the far north through the inclusion of an Indigenous employment clause.

“With Queensland taxpayers investing millions into this business through the QIC, they would rightly expect this business to support local jobs and treat workers with respect, which is why QIC and the State Government must take immediate action.”

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THE FEDERAL Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works has announced that it will scrutinise a new project, from the Department of Defence.

Details of the project are: Department of Defence — AIR 555 Phase 1 Airborne Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance Electronic Warfare Capability Facilities Works — $293.65 million.

It is anticipated that the committee will conduct a public and in-camera hearing for the inquiry in early August 2020. The Committee would like to hear from all individuals or organisations interested in the project. Submissions for project will be accepted until July 28, 2020.

Note: The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works is not involved in the tendering process, awarding of contracts or details of the proposed works. Inquiries on these matters should be addressed to the relevant Commonwealth entities.

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THE Foreign Affairs and Aid Sub-Committee of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade will tomorrow hold its first roundtable public hearing for the inquiry into strengthening Australia’s relationships with the Pacific Islands.

On June 18 the Committee will hear from seven experts with backgrounds in development assistance in the Pacific, including Caritas Australia, UnitingWorld, RESULTS International, UN-PRAC Project and the WASH Reference Group. A second roundtable hearing, with seven prominent academics will follow on June 19.

The Sub-Committee was tasked to inquire into how Australia could meet current and emerging opportunities and challenges facing the Pacific island region.

Sub-Committee chair Dave Sharma said, “Australia’s relationship with its Pacific neighbours is fundamentally important to Australia’s future. Our fates are intertwined.

“We have a long history of working constructively with our neighbours, including during times of adversity and challenge. Australia will be especially keen to help Pacific island states manage the health impacts of COVID-19 and recover from the economic impacts, and I expect this will be a large focus of the inquiry.”

Public hearing details:

Date: Thursday 18 June, 2020
Time: 8am to 9.30am
Location: Committee Room 1R3, Parliament House, Canberra

Date: Friday 19 June, 2020
Time: 8.30am to 10.30am
Location: Committee Room 1R4, Parliament House, Canberra

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

The Sub-Committee has welcomed 38 submissions to date, acknowledging that many submissions have been thoughtfully prepared under adverse conditions. The Committee is still keen to hear views from within Pacific island countries, individuals who have participated in labour mobility schemes, and those who have settled permanently in Australia, amongst others.

Further details about the inquiry, including terms of reference, contributing a submission and details of public hearings, can be obtained from the Committee’s website.

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THE parliamentary inquiry into activating trade with Pacific Island countries will hear tomorrow from an ANU economist and also a Tasmanian power services company providing renewable energy across the Pacific.

The Trade Sub-Committee of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade will hear evidence from the director of the Development Policy Centre at the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific, Professor Stephen Howes, followed by a video-conference with representatives of power company Entura discussing their projects in the Pacific.

Sub-Committee Chair John McVeigh has reminded people with an interest in this issue that submissions to the inquiry are open until June 30.

A full program for the hearing, as well as submissions to the inquiry, are available on the inquiry website.

Public hearing details

Date: Thursday 18 June, 2020
Time: 9.45am to 11.20am
Location: Committee Room 1R3, Parliament House, Canberra

The hearing will be streamed online at aph.gov.au/live.

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THE Federal Government has been urged to address the nation’s complete reliance on foreign owned, operated and crewed tankers to transport oil and petroleum products as part of ongoing efforts to address Australia’s chronic fuel security issues.

The Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) welcomed the Request for Information process, which seeks to identify opportunities to strengthen refining capacity and increase domestic fuel storage capacity, but said issues facing the transport of liquid fuels to Australia and around the coast remained unresolved.

The union said the situation had greatly deteriorated in recent decades, with more than 90 percent of Australia’s liquid fuel needs now arriving via foreign owned and operated tankers. While 12 Australian-crewed tankers operated in the year 2000, there are no longer any in service.

“The COVID-19 heath crisis has highlighted the vulnerability of Australia’s supply chains and demonstrated how quickly a pandemic, military conflict, natural disaster, or economic shock could impact the supply of essential goods,” MUA national secretary and International Transport Workers’ Federation president Paddy Crumlin said.

“Clear gaps in Australia’s sovereign self-sufficiency have been exposed, placing a clear obligation on the Federal Government to close these gaps and reinforce the cabotage system that governs shipping around our coast, along with biosecurity, immigration, and related border controls.

“The COVID-19 crisis reinforced how absolutely essential shipping is, not only to fuel security but also to maintaining other domestic supply chains that provide essential deliveries.

“Australia’s complete reliance on foreign owned and operated tankers has left the nation extremely vulnerable, with no guarantee these vessels would continue to supply Australia during a major crisis.

“While recent shortages of household items were inconvenient, a crisis that cut fuel supplies would force the entire economy to grind to a halt.”

MUA assistant national secretary Ian Bray said the Morrison Government’s initial steps to enhance domestic fuel refining and storage capacity were a good start, but genuine energy security required action on how fuel is transported to Australia and around the coast.

“The Federal Government clearly understands that improving fuel security requires the strengthening of domestic refining capacity and a substantial increase to domestic storage, but the issue of how fuel products are transported to our island nation remains unresolved,” Mr Bray said.

“If the Federal Government is serious about examining industry solutions to address Australia’s fuel security, then it needs to look at the creation of a strategic fleet of Australian owned, flagged, or crewed tankers capable of maintaining supplies of oil and refined petroleum products in the event of a crisis.

“In a report commissioned by the MUA, shipping expert John Francis found the exclusive reliance on foreign flagged tankers for crude and refined petroleum products removed any opportunity for the Commonwealth to requisition national flag tankers if needed to maintain fuel supplies during a crisis.

“His report, Australia’s Fuel Security – Running on Empty, concluded that the retention of a minimum number of Australian owned, managed and crewed tankers was not only justified on national security grounds, but could be achieved at a minimal cost to end users.”

The Australia’s Fuel Security – Running on Empty report is available at https://bit.ly/31cDisq.

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THE Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is advising people to act now to improve their tax time experience.

There are some simple things taxpayers can do now to ensure they can lodge their tax return quickly, securely, and smoothly.

Assistant Commissioner Karen Foat said, "If you are planning on lodging your own return, you can’t beat the ease and accessibility of the ATO’s online myTax service. It has almost completely replaced paper lodgments.

“It’s no surprise that myTax, which processes most refunds in less than two weeks and many in under a week, is growing in popularity. Most people with simple tax affairs can lodge in under half-an-hour from the comfort of their own homes. For most people a lot of their income will be automatically included in their return by the end of July, making it even easier.

“But there are two main speed-bumps that taxpayers hit when lodging online via myTax for the first time. The first is linking their myGov account to the ATO’s online services.”

Avoid Speedbump 1: Link myGov to the ATO now if you plan to do your own return

“My number one piece of advice for people who are going to use myTax for the first time is to log into your myGov account and link to the ATO well before tax time. You’ll be prompted to answer two questions, based on your records, such as an income statement or Centrelink payment summary from the past two years, or your bank account details,” Ms Foat said.

Those who don't have enough information to confirm their identity will need to phone the ATO to get a unique linking code, which can be entered instead of answering the questions. To speed up the process, taxpayers need to have their identification information ready when they call the ATO, such as their Tax File Number and their driver's licence, or Medicare card.

“Needing a linking code was the number one reason that people called us last July. While this is a vote of confidence from taxpayers eager to use myTax, it is a faster process if you get organised early,” Ms Foat said.

“If you need to call us to link, we encourage you to do so now so that you don’t hit any delays when you choose to lodge your tax return. If you need a linking code, June is a great time to get that sorted.”

After people have linked to the ATO, they can not only lodge their tax returns during tax time, but also track their refunds, access their past tax records, manage their super accounts, and view their income statement.

Avoid Speedbump 2: Make sure your income details are complete and finalised before you lodge

“The other main delay at tax time is people lodging before they have all of the information about their income,” Ms Foat said.

For most Australians, income statements have replaced payment summaries. This means that instead of receiving a payment summary from their employer, most people’s income statements will be finalised electronically, and the information provided directly to the ATO. You can view your income statement through myGov and the information from it is automatically included in your return in myTax by the ATO. If you use a tax agent, they will also have access to this information.

Income statements show their year-to-date salary and wages, PAYG withholding tax, and any employer super contributions in near real-time, but it is important to wait until it is finalised before lodging a tax return. Employers have until July 31 to finalise income statements.

“We often see people too eager to get a tax refund making obvious mistakes, which can either delay processing the tax return or result in a bill later on,” Ms Foat said.

“It’s important to check that your employer has finalised the information in your income statement and it is marked as ‘tax ready’ before you lodge.

“Other information from banks, health funds and government agencies will also be automatically inserted into your tax return. For most people this will happen by the end of July.

“Lodging once we have included all of your information in your tax return makes it even easier, but if you are lodging before then, make sure the information provided is complete, accurate, and up to date to avoid delays or a debt later on,” Ms Foat said.

For more information visit:

>      Setting up your myGov account

>      Link your myGov account to ATO online services

>      Accessing your payment summary

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