Mr ENTSCH (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources) (10:17 AM) —I move:

The purpose of the Snowy Hydro Corporatisation Amendment Bill 2002 is to amend the Snowy Hydro Corporatisation Act 1997.

The Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Authority was corporatised on 28 June 2002. The Commonwealth, New South Wales and Victorian governments are shareholders in the new company Snowy Hydro Ltd.

To allow corporatisation of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Authority to proceed on 28 June 2002, the Commonwealth undertook, with the agreement of the New South Wales and Victorian governments, to introduce this bill to exempt certain transactions specified under the Snowy Hydro Corporatisation Act 1997 from the goods and services tax, the GST.

The original intent conveyed in the Snowy Hydro Corporatisation Act 1997 was that all corporatisation transactions should be exempt from tax. This intent was overruled when the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 came into force. The amending legislation will ensure that the original intent is restored.

In accordance with the A New Tax System (Commonwealth-State Financial Arrangements) Act 1999 and the intergovernmental agreement on the reform of Commonwealth-state financial relations, the unanimous agreement of all state and territory treasurers is required before the amendment can be passed. The New South Wales and Victorian treasurers have consulted and gained unanimous approval from their state and territory colleagues on this amendment.

The proposed legislation will not affect the application of GST to any transactions and transfers other than those specifically required under the Snowy Hydro Corporatisation Act 1997.

This amendment is solely for one-off transactions required under the Snowy Hydro Corporatisation Act 1997 and no significant or unforseen ramifications for GST revenue are expected from the amendment. I present the explanatory memorandum to this bill.

Debate (on motion by Mr Cox) adjourned.