Page 1237 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 23 March 2010
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This is one centralisation reform that the Assembly should support, and the Canberra Liberals are pleased to do so today.
MR HARGREAVES (Brindabella) (12.17): I support this bill and the ongoing reform of the law of personal property securities. This reform project has been in progress for a number of years now at the commonwealth level, and this government has reacted swiftly to the results. Consumers and businesses in the ACT can be assured that they have a government which moves quickly to implement these measures for their benefit.
This bill is designed to reflect the changes introduced by the commonwealth Personal Property Securities Act 2009. The commonwealth act was passed by parliament in December 2009, following a lengthy and detailed consultation and drafting process. The drafting began in August 2008 with the release of a discussion paper. Before that, an options paper for the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General in 2006 presented options for reforming the law, based on international comparisons.
The commonwealth personal property securities legislation was designed around American and Canadian models. Similar legislation has been used in North America for more than 50 years, so the fundamental principles of this reform have been thoroughly tested. The commonwealth act improves on the primary shortcomings of the legislation in North America. In those jurisdictions, every state or province enacts its own version of the law and each has its own registers. The result is that if property has been moved across jurisdictional lines, it can be very difficult to discover the existence of interests in the property. Compliance with the slightly differing requirements across those lines is also very difficult.
The commonwealth reform makes the law consistent across all jurisdictions in Australia. Also, it provides for a single, national register of personal property securities. The government agreed to this reform because it will result in improved economic conditions for the ACT and across the nation. The improvements come from easing the burdens and risks involved in using property to secure financing. Reduced burden and risk in this area means that financing is cheaper for both consumers and businesses to obtain. This holds true across the economic spectrum, from consumers to small businesses and large corporations.
For consumers, the main benefit will be an improved ability to buy goods using credit. The typical example is a car purchase. A bank or other financial institution lends money to complete the sale and takes an interest in the car in return. For businesses that want to use any tangible assets to secure financing, there will now be a consistent set of rules across the country. The territory’s role in this has been to work as a partner with other jurisdictions and the commonwealth to provide input on the legislation and to ensure that the territory is capable of transitioning to the new system with ease. Throughout the process, the government has acted swiftly and decisively to ensure that there will be no obstacle to securing the economic benefits of this reform.
This bill represents a key step forward for the territory’s economy and for the national reform project. Members should note that the government introduced this bill at the first opportunity following the enactment of the commonwealth legislation, which
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