Senator COONAN (7:47 PM) —I have listened carefully to what Senator Xenophon has said and I am persuaded that this amendment, which provides a creative sunset clause of 36 months, is worth supporting. The clause provides a very good opportunity to take into account the Productivity Commission’s report, the APRA principles and any further global regulatory changes.

During the debate Senator Conroy alluded to the evolving nature of matters relating to executive remuneration, and to me those circumstances seem a valid reason to revisit the iteration of dealing with executive remuneration that we are adopting in this bill. I think the amendment provides an opportunity to strengthen this legislation and I commend Senator Xenophon and Richard Pye, whose birthday it is today—happy birthday, Richard!—for crafting a reasonable clause that will respond to the various iterations that no doubt will attend further examination of executive remuneration. I want to indicate at the outset the coalition’s support for the sunset clause.