Exclusive: Labor agrees to support Greens’ push to abolish arrangement for secret list of companies belonging to Australia’s corporate elite

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

A secret list of private companies that has enjoyed a tax reporting exemption since 1995, under a deal done by the Keating government during a legislative overhaul, could finally be torn up.

Labor has agreed to support a Greens push to abolish a unique exemption for 1,498 private companies associated with Australia’s business elite that has allowed the companies to avoid sharing their financial reports with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (Asic).

The private companies have been enjoying the historical secrecy provision since 1995 when they were “grandfathered” by the Keating government during a legislative overhaul.

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That grandfathering arrangement was only intended to be temporary and subject to a review in a few years, but it was cancelled by the Howard Government shortly after its election victory in 1996 and the companies have enjoyed the tax reporting exemption ever since.

In 2015, Guardian Australia revealed the names of the 1,498 private companies and the list was a who’s who of corporate Australia, including private companies associated with the Myer family, the Pratt family’s Visy Industries, media proprietor John B. Fairfax, chicken producer Inghams, the Moran Health Care Group, and construction giant Grocon.

Some companies on the list have ceased to exist or become dormant, including one of Malcolm Turnbull’s former companies, Allcorp Property Services, through which he ran a cleaning business with the late Neville Wran.



Being on the list does not imply a company has done anything wrong, but it does mean the company is not subject to the same requirements to file information as other similar firms.

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Now Labor has agreed – for the first time – to support a Greens amendment to a private senator’s bill that will abolish the unique exemption.

Labor says it will use the last fortnight of parliament before this year’s winter break – between 18 June to 28 June – to bring the bill on for debate in the senate.

The bill in question was introduced by former Labor senator Katy Gallagher, and the amendment was moved by Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson. Whish-Wilson’s amendment is similar to an amendment pushed by former Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party senator Ricky Muir in 2015, which failed to pass the senate at the time but which was supported by Labor.

Labor’s decision to back the Greens’ new amendment will revive interest in the list of specially exempted private companies.

For the bill to pass the senate it will need support from four other cross benchers, and it will then go to the House of Representatives where 76 votes will be required to suspend standing orders to bring the bill on for debate.

The government controls the House, but Labor hopes the government will be open to the idea after Coalition MPs’ contribution to this week’s corporate tax avoidance report.

“We know Australians want more tax transparency and will support bringing almost 1,500 large companies into the Asic financial reporting regime,” shadow assistant treasurer Andrew Leigh told Guardian Australia.

“It was the Gillard government five years ago that passed laws boosting tax transparency. We voted for this financial reporting change last time it appeared, unlike the Liberals and the Greens.”