2nd Sep 2014, 1:07 PM – Senate Minerals Resource Rent Tax Repeal and Other Measures Bill 2014 — Business — Suspend standing orders (Consideration of legislation)

The majority voted in favour of a motion moved by Liberal Senator Mathias Cormann to suspend standing orders be agreed to.

Senator Cormann wanted to suspend standing orders so that he could move a motion relating to the consideration of the Minerals Resource Rent Tax Repeal and Other Measures Bill 2014. His concern was that "parliament has now debated the mining tax repeal legislation for longer than it debated the original mining tax package and related measures putting this failed tax in place".(Read Senator Cormann's full explanation of his motion here. )

Background to the bill

This bill was introduced following the Minerals Resource Rent Tax Repeal and Other Measures Bill 2013 (No. 2) being laid aside because it could not "be progressed in its current form".(Read more about this bill being set aside here. The division which resulted in that bill being laid aside is available here. )

This bill repeals the Minerals Resource Rent Tax as well as related measures such as the low income superannuation contribution, the income support bonus and the schoolkids bonus. The bill also revises the capital allowances for small business entities and the superannuation guarantee charge percentage increase.(Read more about the changes made in the bill in the explanatory memorandum. ) Under the previous Labor government, the superannuation was set to increase to 12 per cent by 2019 (as of 1 July 2014, it is at 9.5 per cent).(Read more about superannuation in Australia here.) However, this bill will push that rise up until 1 July 2025.