Robert McClelland (Barton, Australian Labor Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

in reply—I would like to sincerely thank the honourable members for their contributions to the debate on the Statute Law Revision Bill 2008. In summary, all regarded this as a very worthwhile piece of legislation—not all that exciting but very important. The statute law revision bills are important and practical mechanisms for updating Commonwealth legislation and enhancing its quality and accessibility. Minor drafting and clerical errors are bound to find their way into our legislation, given the volume of bills passing through the parliament. It is of note that most bills have passed with bipartisan support. The areas of conflict are relatively small in the overall scheme of things.

Regular review of our legislation allows for the prompt correction of these mistakes and errors. These bills also allow for the removal from the statute book of expired laws, which ensures that the body of Commonwealth legislation is kept up to date and is not cluttered by obsolete acts. They ensure that our laws reflect contemporary social standards by amending statutes containing gender specific language to produce a statute book that is gender neutral and more inclusive. This government continues with the tradition of supporting statute law revision bills.

The Office of Parliamentary Counsel has displayed a high level of expertise in the initiation and preparation of this bill to make sure that in the future our statute book remains as accurate and as effective as it can possibly be. We commend the office for the quality of its work on this bill.

While the bill does not change the substance of the law, it is an important responsibility of any government to carry out the passage of a statute law revision bill. Once again, I thank speakers and commend the bill to the Committee.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Ordered that the bill be reported to the House without amendment.

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