Mr SLIPPER (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance and Administration) (5:29 PM) —I do apologise to the House. Our understanding was that the honourable member for Jagajaga was speaking, but she dropped off the list at the very last minute and thus the Parliamentary Liaison Officer did not have time to notify me that my presence in the chamber was required earlier than would otherwise have been the case. At this stage I would like to thank all participants in the debate.

Mr Martin Ferguson —You should have been listening to the debate if you were interested.

Mr SLIPPER —I was listening to the debate in my office. These four bills give effect to the government's announcement of 5 October 1999 concerning industrial safety equipment and sales tax. Industrial safety equipment is exempt from sales tax. As honourable members have said in the debate, two Federal Court decisions have held that the scope of this exemption was broadened in 1992 when the sales tax law was streamlined. It is therefore possible that a wider range of goods could now qualify for sales tax exemption than has always been intended.

The measures in these bills will ensure that, to qualify for the industrial safety equipment exemption, goods would need to be of a kind mainly used to protect persons engaged in industrial operations. Refund claims lodged on or after 5 October last year which do not meet this criterion will be denied. To prevent windfall gains for retailers who have passed the cost of the sales tax law on to their customers, refund claims lodged before 5 October 1999 that meet the requirements of the law prior to amendment will only be paid where it can be shown that the benefit of the credit has passed to the end consumer. In these circumstances, I commend the bills to the chamber.

Question resolved in the affirmative.

Bill read a third time.