Senator NEWMAN (Family and Community Services; Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Status of Women) (9:36 PM) —I take it that there are no other speakers on the Taxation Laws Amendment Bill (No. 6) 1999 . In responding to Senator Murray, I am advised that he is correct that there was an error in the drafting, but he was not correct in that I am advised that a costing was made of the implications of the error.

I would like to summarise the merits of the bill. It contains provisions for the tax treatment of domestic spectrum licences. It will allow a deduction for expenditure incurred in acquiring a spectrum licence, amortised over the effective life of the licence. In addition, the bill will ensure that Australia is able to assert its taxing rights over income from the use of spectrum where the spectrum licence is owned by a non-resident and to include payments for the use of spectrum licences in the definition of `royalty' under the income tax law.

Secondly, the bill will make a number of technical corrections to the tax law arising from the Tax Law Improvement Project. There will also be technical corrections in relation to the introduction of youth allowance and Austudy payments. Thirdly, the bill will enable the calculation of the provisional tax uplift factor using the new single measure of gross domestic product as part of the change in the presentation of the national accounts published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. I commend the bill to the Senate.

Question resolved in the affirmative.

Bill read a second time, and passed through its remaining stages without amendment or debate.