Gary Gray (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service and Integrity) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

That this bill be now read a third time.

I thank all those who have contributed to the debate on the Members of Parliament (Life Gold Pass) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2012. This bill is a further demonstration of the government's commitment to reform the parliamentary entitlements framework. In 2009 the government commissioned an independent committee, the Committee for the Review of Parliamentary Entitlements, chaired by Ms Barbara Belcher AO, to review parliamentary entitlements. On 24 March 2011 I tabled the committee's report and introduced the Remuneration and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2011, which restored the power of the independent Remuneration Tribunal to determine parliamentary base salary of parliamentarians conclusively. On that day I also agreed to the tribunal's request that it consider the other recommendations of the Belcher committee's report and to make recommendations on parliamentarians' tools of trade and other entitlement issues. The tribunal released its initial report of the review of the remuneration of members of parliament on 15 December 2011 and the government moved immediately to accept the recommendations of the report that the Life Gold Pass scheme be closed prospectively, that the travel entitlements of Life Gold Pass holders be reduced and that the link between additional pensions under the Parliamentary Contributory Superannuation Scheme, the 1948 scheme and the additional salaries for serving parliamentary officeholders and ministers be severed.

This bill proposes to implement those recommendations. Once this bill takes effect, the Life Gold Pass scheme will be closed to those who enter or re-enter the parliament. The travel entitlement of existing Life Gold Pass holders who have never held office as Prime Minister and their spouses or de facto partners will be reduced from 25 to 10 domestic return trips per financial year from the 2012-13 financial year. I have already indicated that sitting senators and members will remain eligible to accrue an entitlement to a Life Gold Pass when they serve the remainder of their relevant qualifying period prior to leaving the parliament. Further, a sitting senator or a member who ceases to be a member of their House and who becomes a member of the other chamber within three months will be regarded as having had continuous service in the parliament and will continue to be eligible for a Life Gold Pass.

In accordance with the tribunal's recommendations that the travel entitlement of a Life Gold Pass holder be reduced immediately, the bill includes a transitional provision which limits the number of domestic return trips for the remainder of 2011-12 to a maximum of two. The provision will apply from the latter day on which the bill receives royal assent or from 1 April 2012. As I indicated earlier, serving ministers of state and parliamentary office holders receive additional salaries as a percentage of their parliamentary base salary. Any increase in the parliamentary base salary determined by the tribunal would flow to ministers of state and parliamentary office holders. The measures in this bill limit any windfall gains from increases in the additional salaries of office holders and of ministers of state flowing to the superannuation benefits of current and former parliamentarians. These measures complement similar arrangements approved by parliament last year in the Remuneration and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2011 in relation to increases in the parliamentary base salary for members of parliament.

The reforms to the parliamentary entitlement framework set out in this bill will contribute to an effective, efficient and transparent system of remuneration and entitlements and will help build the Australian public confidence in the parliamentary entitlements system. I thank all those members and senators from across the parliament for the cooperative way in which they have assisted in the construction of this response to audit reports, the Belcher report and the Remuneration Tribunal's decisions. I commend the bill to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a third time.

See this speech in context