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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-03-24 Daily Xml
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STATUTES AMENDMENT (PERSONAL PROPERTY SECURITIES) BILL

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 22 March 2011.)

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (16:22): I rise to discuss the Statutes Amendment (Personal Property Securities) Bill. This bill is part of a national harmonisation process that springs from the Council of Australian Governments' focus on boosting productivity through competition and business regulation reform. Indeed, the Personal Property Securities (or PPS) Scheme is one of the priority items on COAG's business regulation reform agenda. As a statement by COAG makes clear, the drive to reduce business costs, build public confidence in markets and boost economic efficiency through greater competition is critical to the national reform agenda.

These reforms can help set up the nation for decades to come. The Productivity Commission estimated in 2007 that the potential benefits of a broad regulatory and competition agenda could increase GDP by 2 per cent (or $21 billion) over time. In October 2008, South Australia agreed to a national partnership to deliver a seamless national economy. Simply put, the bill before us today proposes amendments to a number of state laws as a result of the enactment of the commonwealth Personal Property Securities Act 2009.

'Personal property', as presently defined, does not include land, buildings or fixtures that form part of the land; it comprises tangible items, such as vehicles, crops and equipment and intangibles, such as intellectual property or shares. The PPS Act defines 'personal property' to encompass a licence capable of transfer. It provides for a declaration by a state or territory that a species of statutory right is not personal property as far as the act is concerned. As an aside, there is a question mark over whether fixtures will be included in the definition down the track. This is currently under consideration by the commonwealth, states and territories.

In light of the agreement on the national partnership, South Australia has introduced referral legislation to allow the commonwealth to establish a national personal property securities scheme. Under this scheme, there will be one set of laws and a single, nationally accessible register. The PPS Act will take the place of around 70 pieces of legislation which have thus far regulated personal property securities, clearly increasing ease of use and efficiency for registrants to a considerable degree.

A single online register, available 24 hours a day, will replace some 40 individual paper-based and electronic registers throughout the states and territories. Once the scheme has commenced, the state registers held pursuant to the Goods Securities Act 1986, the Bills of Sale Act 1886, the Co-operatives Act 1976, the Liens on Fruit Act 1923 and the Stock Mortgages and Wool Liens Act 1924 will cease to operate in terms of registering personal property securities.

The information they contain will then be relocated to a national register which, it is envisaged, will commence operation in October 2011. As my colleague the Minister for Industrial Relations has indicated, this bill will facilitate the establishment of a national register by amending state acts to provide for closure of state registers of security interests, allow data on the registers to be migrated to the national register, repeal provisions in state acts that are inconsistent with the PPS Act, and repeal acts once the national system is fully functional and the state register and registry functions are no longer required.

Petroleum, mining, fishing and aquaculture licences are to be excluded from the PPS scheme. Because these licences are covered by particular regimes related to those industries, it is more suitable that they remain on state registers. Arrangements are in train to provide for bills of sale related to fishing, aquaculture and water licences, and irrigation rights to be registered on the fishing, aquaculture and water registers. These should be in place by the time the PPS register goes live later this year. However, out of abundant caution, scope exists within the draft legislation to enable transitional regulations to be made so that, should circumstances arise, bills of sale over excluded licences can be retained on the bills of sale registers until they are transferred to relevant state registers.

There are some other exclusions from the PPS scheme, and they are gas and electricity services. This is because they are currently subject to COAG national energy market reforms. The PPS register will incorporate all other registered interest. Following consultation with stakeholders, including of course the relevant departments, the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972 will be amended to make absolutely clear that certain permits and licences are not capable of transfer. Consequently, as far as the PPS Act is concerned, they will not fall into the category of personal property. These amendments are congruent with consequential amendments made by the other states and territories.

Finally, the bill proposes to amend the Criminal Assets Confiscation Act 2005 to make crystal clear the operation of state laws regarding the operation of the PPS scheme in relation to the forfeiture and disposal of criminal assets and proceeds. The result of these amendments is a streamlined, consistent and simpler scheme for persons and entities involved in personal property transactions Australia-wide. The benefits in terms of accessibility and productivity are clear. I commend the bill to members.

The Hon. B.V. FINNIGAN (Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for State/Local Government Relations, Minister for Gambling) (16:28): I believe there are no more contributions, so I thank honourable members who have made a contribution to this debate and indicated support. One amendment is on file at this stage from the Hon. Mr Wade; at this point the government is not opposing it, but we will seek further advice from the Department for Water before the next sitting week. I thank honourable members for their contributions.

Bill read a second time.

Committee Stage

In committee.

Clause 1.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: I would like to take the opportunity to speak very briefly to provide the context for concerns that have emerged about how this bill might relate to water licences. Just to briefly outline those concerns, the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 in the commonwealth currently does not apply—I stress, does not apply—to right, entitlement or authority in relation to the controlled use or flow of water. This means that the act does not apply to water licences.

However, the Personal Property Securities (Commonwealth Powers) Act 2009, the referral act, does include a subsection that would refer the personal property securities matters in relation to transferable rights to the commonwealth under section 6(4). That subsection has not come into operation; however, if it is ever brought into operation the referral will be achieved by the amendment to the commonwealth Personal Property Securities Act.

The definition of water right in the referral act contemplates the states being able to exclude statutory rights, which means that the referral would not apply in relation to excluded rights, entitlements and authorities. So, the amendment I filed would have the effect of inserting a new section into the Natural Resources Management Act 2004 that declares that a water management authorisation is not a personal property right for the purposes of the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 of the commonwealth.

This issue emerged particularly in the latter stages of the House of Assembly debate, and I thank the Attorney-General and member for Bragg for teasing out the issue. I welcome the commitment from the minister to seek further advice, because the opposition is certainly aware that water matters are very complex, and we would not want our amendment to have unintended consequences. So, on behalf of the opposition I thank the minister for his undertaking to seek further advice so that when the council considers that advice in the committee stage we can be sure that there are no unintended consequences.

Clause passed.

Clauses 2 to 50 passed.

Progress reported; committee to sit again.

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