Senator CONROY (8:15 PM) —I rise to indicate the opposition's opposition to this amendment. We believe that, through the negotiations that we have had with the government, the strengthening of the anti-avoidance provisions will more than satisfy the tests of the parliament and the courts. Unfortunately, this amendment, in its present form, does not make sense. It does not read in the way that we believe is consistent with achieving what the Democrats are purporting to be setting out to want to achieve.

It does not quarantine the deductions to be absorbed against the future gain; they are simply lost altogether. It is inconsistent with previous amendments of the Democrats where they have been arguing about the 45 per cent regime. We believe that we have been able to achieve a satisfactory outcome in our discussions with the government in stopping the conversion of income to capital. This amendment does not make technical sense to even achieve what the Democrats believe they are setting out to achieve.