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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 11 Hansard (30 November) . . Page.. 3493 ..
MR HARGREAVES (11.46): Mr Speaker, I seek leave to move a motion standing in Mr Osborne's name on the notice paper as he is not able to be here at this moment.
Leave granted.
MR HARGREAVES: Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. I move:
That the resolution of the Assembly of 31 August 2000, referring the Defamation Bill 1999 to the Standing Committee on Justice and Community Safety for inquiry and report, be amended by:
(1) omitting "last sitting day in December 2000" and substituting "last sitting day in February 2001"; and
(2) adding the following new paragraph:
"On the Committee presenting its report to the Assembly, resumption of debate on the question 'That this Bill be agreed to in principle' for the bill be set down as an order of the day for the next sitting. The foregoing provisions of this resolution have effect notwithstanding anything contained in the standing orders.".
Question resolved in the affirmative.
MS TUCKER (11.47): I move:
That Subordinate Law 2000 No 27, made under the Interactive Gambling Act 1998 relating to interactive gambling tax rates be disallowed, pursuant to section 6 of the Subordinate Laws Act 1989.
The regulation that we have moved be disallowed substantially cuts the tax charged on interactive gambling licensees' profits from interactive gambling. The government's explanation for the cut is that it is part of the process of negotiating with interested companies. In other words, it is a bargaining process. In particular, the bargaining has been fuelled by the cut price tax rates on offer in the Northern Territory at eight per cent, Hobart at four per cent and Norfolk Island at four per cent. We have moved this disallowance to give the Assembly a chance to put a brake on our involvement as a territory in the developing tax-bidding law which has been going on between governments within Australia for some time now in a number of areas, and I will say more later about the consequences of this bidding law.
With this regulation the government has moved us from a 50 per cent tax on monthly profits and revenue sharing with other jurisdictions to a system of five per cent, 15 per cent and 20 per cent, depending on how much the company makes. The five per cent tax rate applies to profits above $20 million and the 20 per cent tax rate applies to profits below $10 million. This reverse sliding scale is not the element of most concern to us, but I would like to note it.
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