THE House Committee on Tax and Revenue will hold a public hearing tomorrow to discuss taxpayer engagement with experts from the world of blockchain technology and bitcoin trading.

Chair of the Committee Mr Kevin Hogan MP said that the RMIT Blockchain Innovation Hub was established only last month, and is the world’s first research centre on the cutting edge social science of blockchain.

Professor Sinclair Davidson and Dr Chris Berg, members of the Hub, have published extensively on the benefits and risks of the blockchain economy and of cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin.

Blockchain is an online ledger controlled by a global network of computers. As the records are distributed across the network it cannot be hacked or falsified as easily as information held in a single repository, affording new levels of security and efficiency to governments and companies.

Bitcoin currency exchanges can be tracked by blockchain, as can other value holders including stocks, bonds, and other financial securities. Once largely associated with illicit activity, bitcoin is now traded as part of the thriving cryptocurrency market in Australia, galvanising regulators into action.

“The evolving blockchain economy puts pressure on government processes in a range of new ways—from taxation, to regulation and service delivery,” Mr Hogan said.

“The Committee will want to hear how blockchain can assist auditors and regulators increase certainty in the online marketplace, and also about its potential to disrupt traditional financial and taxation systems.”

Public hearing details: 

4.15 pm to 5.15 pm, Wednesday 18 October 2017
Committee Room 2R1, Parliament House, Canberra.

The proceedings will be broadcast live at aph.gov.au/live.

Interested members of the public may wish to track the committee via the website. 

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THREE science agreements that will enhance opportunities for scientific cooperation and Australian innovation have been supported by federal parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Treaties.

Report 174, tabled in the Parliament today recommends support for arrangements to increase Australia’s scientific cooperation with the USA, New Zealand and Israel.

Committee Chair, Stuart Robert MP, said “the three science agreements will enhance opportunities for scientific cooperation and commercialisation for Australian innovation entrepreneurs. In the current global world, innovation and technology are driving productivity and these types of agreements provide important benefits for Australian businesses,” he said

The committee has also thrown its support behind the renewal of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF’s) arrangements to borrow from Australia. The IMF relies on arrangements to temporarily borrow funds from some of its members to top up its resources. Australia has been one of those members since 1997.  

Mr Robert, said the renewal was for a period of five years, from November 2017 to 2022. “The IMF plays an important role in maintaining international financial and monetary stability and Australia takes its ongoing support for the organisation seriously,” the chair said.

Interested members of the public may wish to track the committee via the website.

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THE GSMA today offered the following comment on the status of Mobile World Congress 2018:

The GSMA has an agreement in place with the Barcelona City Partners making Barcelona the Mobile World Capital and host city of the GSMA Mobile World Congress through 2023.

The 2018 edition of Mobile World Congress will take place in Barcelona from February 26 to March 1, 2018.

The GSMA continues to monitor developments in Spain and Catalonia and assess any potential impact for the Mobile World Capital and Mobile World Congress.

About the GSMA

The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, uniting nearly 800 operators with more than 300 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset and device makers, software companies, equipment providers and internet companies, as well as organisations in adjacent industry sectors. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as Mobile World Congress, Mobile World Congress Shanghai, Mobile World Congress Americas and the Mobile 360 Series of conferences.

www.gsma.com. @GSMA.

IT IS ESTIMATED that for every 100,000 Australians who choose to live in regional centres rather than state capitals, an additional $50 million will be released into the national economy over the next 30 years.

Throughout its inquiry into the development of cities, the Committee on Infrastructure, Transport and Cities has heard much about the potential benefits of rebalancing Australian population settlement across cities and regional centres. It will now discuss practical strategies to redirect settlement with the Regional Australian Institute at a public hearing in Canberra tomorrow.

Committee Chair, John Alexander OAM MP, said it may be possible to achieve a polycentric model of settlement in Australia, where regions are home to a network of larger and smaller social and economic centres.

“Most Australian already live near an urban centre, whether it’s a state capital like Sydney or a regional centre like Albury-Wodonga,” Mr Alexander said.

“Increasing connectivity between communities large and small and leveraging regional centres for future growth will benefit us all.”

The Regional Australia Institute said that substantially shifting “patterns of urbanisation in Australia will require coordinated policy change across land use planning and development, taxation arrangements, infrastructure, investment and migration”.

“Currently our migration policies and urban development arrangements promote sprawling, high population growth major cities and low to moderate growth in surrounding regions.”

Public hearing details: 

 5.00 pm – 6.30 pm, Tuesday, 17 October 2017 
Committee Room 1R3, Parliament House, Canberra

5.00 pm: Regional Australia Institute
6.30 pm: Close

The proceedings will be broadcast live (audio only) at aph.gov.au/live.

Further information on the inquiry, including the full terms of reference, is available on the Committee website.

Interested members of the public may wish to track the committee via the website.

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