TREASURY PORTFOLIO

In Attendance

Senator Wong, Minister for Finance and Deregulation

Department of the Treasury

Mr Nigel Ray, Acting Secretary

Output Group 1.1—Macroeconomic Group

Dr David Gruen, Executive Director, Macroeconomic Group (Domestic)

Barry Sterland, Executive Director, Macroeconomic Group (International)

Mr Simon Duggan, General Manager, Domestic Economy Division

Mr Paul Gardiner, Principal Adviser, Domestic Economy Division

Mr Bryn Battersby, Manager, Domestic Economy Division

Ms Mary Balzary, Acting General Manager, G20 Division

Ms Sue Vroombout, General Manager, International Finance and Development Division

Mr Ben Dolman, Acting General Manager, Macroeconomic Modelling Division

Mr Brendan McKenna, Manager, Macroeconomic Modelling Division

Mr Brian Thomas, Manager, International Outlook Unit, International Economy Division

Mr Jason McDonald, General Manager, International Economy Division

Mr David Drage, Principal Adviser, Macroeconomic Policy Division

Mr Steve French, Acting Executive Director, Policy Co-ordination and Governance

Mr Matt King, Acting Group General Manager, Corporate Strategy and Services Group

Mr Luke Hickey, General Manager, Ministerial and Communications Division

Ms Marisa Purvis-Smith, General Manager, People and Organisational Strategy Division

Mr Peter Alexander, Chief Information Officer, Information Management and Technology Division

Mr Tony Murcutt, Acting Chief Finance Officer, Financial and Facilities Management Division

Mr Nick Creagh, Manager, Accounting and Financial Systems Unit

Output Group 2.1—Revenue Group

Mr Rob Heferen, Executive Director, Revenue Group

Mr Roger Brake, General Manager, Tax Analysis Division

Mr Phil Gallagher, Manager, Tax Analysis Division

Mr Marty Robinson, Principal Adviser, Tax Analysis Division

Mr John Clark, Specialist Adviser, Tax Analysis Division

Mr Matthew Maloney, Senior Adviser, Tax Analysis Division

Mr Kane Travers, Senior Adviser, Tax Analysis Division

Ms Brenda Berkeley, General Manager, Indirect, Philanthropy and Resource Tax Division

Ms Christine Barron, General Manager, Corporate and International Tax Division

Mr Hector Thompson, General Manager, Small Business Tax Division

Mr Paul Tilley, General Manager, Personal and Retirement Income Division

Mr Gerry Antioch, General Manager, Tax System Division

Mr Tom Reid, General Manager, Law Design Practice

Mr Tony McDonald, Principal Adviser, Corporate and International Tax Division

Mr Martin Jacobs, Principal Adviser, Indirect Philanthropy and Resource Tax Division

Mr James O'Toole, Manager, Indirect Philanthropy and Resource Tax Division

Output Group 3.1—Fiscal Group

Mr John Lonsdale, Acting Executive Director

Mr Bill Brummitt, Acting General Manager, Budget Policy Division

Ms Angela Baum, Manager, Budget Estimates and Analysis Unit, Budget Policy Division

Mr Brenton Goldsworthy, Manager, Assets and Liabilities Intergenerational Report Unit, Budget Policy Division

Mr Luise McCulloch, General Manager, Industry, Environment and Defence Division

Ms Rob Raether, Principal Adviser, Industry, Environment and Defence Division

Ms Amanda Cattermole, General Manager, Social Policy Division

Mr Chris Foster, Principal Adviser, Social Policy Division

Ms Vicki Wilkinson, Principal Adviser, Social Policy Division

Mr David Haigh, Principal Adviser, Social Policy Division

Mr Peter Robinson, General Manager, Commonwealth State Relations Division

Mr Paul McCullough, Secretary, Review of GST Secretariat

Dr David Gruen, Executive Director, Macroeconomic Group (Domestic)

Mr Ben Dolman, Acting General Manager, Macroeconomic Modelling Division

Mr Brendan McKenna, Manager, Macroeconomic Modelling Division

Output Group 4.1—Markets Group

Mr Jim Murphy, Executive Director, Markets Group

Mr Brenton Thomas, General Manager, Infrastructure Division

Mr Geoff Miller, Program Manager, Standard Business Reporting

Mr Hamish McDonald, Principal Adviser, Energy Markets

Ms Deidre Gerathy, Chief Adviser, Foreign Investment and Trade Policy Division

Ms Samantha Reinhardt, General Manager, Foreign Investment and Trade Policy Division

Mr Ian Beckett, General Manager, Financial System Division

Ms Kanwaljit Kaur, Manager, Insurance Markets Unit

Mr Jonathan Rollings, Principal Adviser, Superannuation

Mr Geoff Francis, General Manager, Competition and Consumer Policy Division

Mr David Woods, General Manager, Corporations and Capital Markets Division

Mr Bruce Paine, Principal Adviser, Corporations and Capital Markets Division

Mr Scott Rogers, Manager, Corporate Reporting and Accountability Unit

Mr Justin Douglas, Principal Adviser - Banking, Financial Systems Division

Ms Alix Gallo, Manager, Governance and Insolvency Unit

Mr Daniel McAuliffe, Manager, Financial Markets Unit

Ms Irene Sim, General Manager, Retail Investor Division

Mr Richard Sandlant, Manager, Financial Advice Reform Unit

Mr Christian Mikula, Manager, Consumer Credit Unit

Mr Steven Powell, Acting Manager, Financial Services Unit

Mr Peter Martin, Australian Government Actuary

Mr Baethan Mullen, Senior Adviser - Competition Policy, Competition and Consumer Policy Division

Australian Bureau of Statistics

Mr Trevor Sutton, Acting Australian Statistician

Mr Jonathan Palmer, Deputy Australian Statistician

Mr Bruce Hockman, Acting Deputy Australian Statistician

Ms Jill Charker, First Assistant Statistician

Mr Paul Jelfs, First Assistant Statistician

Mr Lewis Conn, Assistant Statistician

Ms Debra Foggin, Assistant Statistician

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission

Mr Rod Sims, Chairman

Mr Brian Cassidy, Chief Executive Officer

Mr Mark Pearson, Deputy Chief Executive Officer Regulation

Mr Marcus Bezzi, Executive General Manager, Enforcement and Compliance Division

Mr Scott Gregson, Group General Manager, Enforcement Operations Group

Mr Nigel Ridgway, Group General Manger, Compliance Operations Group

Ms Rose Webb, Executive General Manager, Mergers and Adjudication Group

Ms Jo Schumann, Executive General Manager, Corporate Division

Mr Adrian Brocklehurst, General Manager, Finance and Corporate Services

Ms Michelle Groves, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Energy Regulator

Mr Michael Cosgrave, Group General Manager, Communications Group

Mr Richard Chadwick, General Manager, Adjudication Branch

Australian Office of Financial Management

Mr Michael Bath, Acting Chief Executive Officer

Mr Gerald Dodgson, Head of Treasury Services

Mr Andrew Johnson, Head of Reporting and IT

Australian Prudential Regulation Authority

Dr John Laker, Chairman

Mr Ross Jones, Deputy Chairman

Mr Ian Laughlin, APRA Member

Mr Charles Littrell, Executive General Manager Policy, Research and Statistics

Mrs Helen Rowell, Executive General Manager, Supervisory Support Division

Australian Securities and Investment Commission

Mr Greg Medcraft, Chairman

Ms Belinda Gibson, Deputy Chairman

Mr Peter Kell, Commissioner

Mr John Price, Commissioner

Mr Greg Tanzer, Commissioner

Australian Taxation Office

Mr Bruce Quigley, Acting Commissioner of Taxation

Mr Geoff Leeper, Second Commissioner

Ms Erin Holland, Acting Second Commissioner

Mr Neil Olesen, Acting Second Commissioner

Mr Robert Ravanello, Chief Operating Officer

Ms Frances Cawthra, Chief Finance Officer

Mr Shane Reardon, First Assistant Commissioner, ATO People

Mr Steven Hamilton, Acting Chief Information Officer

Mr Andrew England, Chief Tax Counsel

Mr Brett Peterson, Assistant Deputy Commissioner, Superannuation

Mr Thomas Ryan, Assistant Commissioner, Debt

Mr John Becker, Acting General Manager, Australian Valuation Office

Commonwealth Grants Commission

Mr John Spasojevic, Secretary

Mr Phil Parkins, Director, Corporate Services

Inspector-General of Taxation

Mr Ali Noroozi, Inspector-General of Taxation

Mr Andrew McLoughlin, Deputy Inspector-General of Taxation

Productivity Commission

Mr Gary Banks, Chairman

Mr Mike Woods, Deputy Chairman

Mr Daryl Quinlivan, Head of Office

Ms Lisa Gropp, First Assistant Commissioner (Melbourne)

CHAIR ( Senator Mark Bishop ): I welcome the Department of the Treasury. The Senate has referred to the committee the particulars of proposed expenditure for 2012-13 and related documents for the Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education and Treasury and Resources, Energy and Tourism portfolios. The committee has set Friday, 26 October, as the date by which senators are to submit written questions on notice and has set Friday, 7 December 2012, as the date by which answers to questions on notice are to be returned. Under standing order 26, the committee must take all evidence in public session, this includes answers to questions on notice. Officers and senators are familiar with the rules of the Senate governing estimates hearings. If you need assistance, the secretariat has copies of the rules. I particularly draw the attention of witnesses to an order of the Senate of 13 May 2009, specifying the process by which a claim of public interest immunity should be raised which I now incorporate in Hansard.

The extract read as follows—

Public interest immunity claims

That the Senate—

(a) notes that ministers and officers have continued to refuse to provide information to Senate committees without properly raising claims of public interest immunity as required by past resolutions of the Senate;

(b) reaffirms the principles of past resolutions of the Senate by this order, to provide ministers and officers with guidance as to the proper process for raising public interest immunity claims and to consolidate those past resolutions of the Senate;

(c) orders that the following operate as an order of continuing effect:

(1) If:

(a) a Senate committee, or a senator in the course of proceedings of a committee, requests information or a document from a Commonwealth department or agency; and

(b) an officer of the department or agency to whom the request is directed believes that it may not be in the public interest to disclose the information or document to the committee, the officer shall state to the committee the ground on which the officer believes that it may not be in the public interest to disclose the information or document to the committee, and specify the harm to the public interest that could result from the disclosure of the information or document.

(2) If, after receiving the officer’s statement under paragraph (1), the committee or the senator requests the officer to refer the question of the disclosure of the information or document to a responsible minister, the officer shall refer that question to the minister.

(3) If a minister, on a reference by an officer under paragraph (2), concludes that it would not be in the public interest to disclose the information or document to the committee, the minister shall provide to the committee a statement of the ground for that conclusion, specifying the harm to the public interest that could result from the disclosure of the information or document.

(4) A minister, in a statement under paragraph (3), shall indicate whether the harm to the public interest that could result from the disclosure of the information or document to the committee could result only from the publication of the information or document by the committee, or could result, equally or in part, from the disclosure of the information or document to the committee as in camera evidence.

(5) If, after considering a statement by a minister provided under paragraph (3), the committee concludes that the statement does not sufficiently justify the withholding of the information or document from the committee, the committee shall report the matter to the Senate.

(6) A decision by a committee not to report a matter to the Senate under paragraph (5) does not prevent a senator from raising the matter in the Senate in accordance with other procedures of the Senate.

(7) A statement that information or a document is not published, or is confidential, or consists of advice to, or internal deliberations of, government, in the absence of specification of the harm to the public interest that could result from the disclosure of the information or document, is not a statement that meets the requirements of paragraph (I) or (4).

(8) If a minister concludes that a statement under paragraph (3) should more appropriately be made by the head of an agency, by reason of the independence of that agency from ministerial direction or control, the minister shall inform the committee of that conclusion and the reason for that conclusion, and shall refer the matter to the head of the agency, who shall then be required to provide a statement in accordance with paragraph (3).

(Extract, Senate Standing Orders, pp 124-125)

I also ask photographers and cameramen to follow the established media guidelines and the instructions of the committee secretariat. Please ensure that senators and witnesses' laptops and personal papers are not filmed. Officers called upon for the first time to answer a question should state their name and position for the Hansard record and witnesses should speak clearly into the microphone. Please make sure all mobile phones are switched off or turned to silent. The committee will begin today's proceedings with the Productivity Commission and will then follow the order as set out in the circulated program.