Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Ageing) Share this | Hansard source

I thank members for their contribution to the debate, particularly the member for Greenway for her insightful and interesting speech. I used to make a lot of those speeches myself on statute law revision.

Lest anyone think that this particular piece of legislation is uninteresting and has no impact on Australian life, its economy, its community and society let me say this Statute Law Revision Bill 2013 deals with areas such as financial framework, telecommunications, corporations law, aviation and transport, FaHCSIA, native title, fishery management, exports, excise, farm work, farm household support, superannuation industry supervision and many other pieces of legislation that impact on Australian life each and every day. Statute law revision bills perform a vital service in improving the quality of Commonwealth legislation. The regular review of legislation by the Office of Parliamentary Counsel enables minor errors in the Commonwealth statute books to be efficiently addressed and improves the accuracy and usability of Commonwealth acts. It also enables the repeal of obsolete and otiose provisions in acts.

The member for Greenway was talking about a number of things that were done like getting rid of sections and subsections that were no longer relevant and legislation that has previously gone, replacing wrongly placed semicolons with full stops, modernising language to use the word 'authorise' in a more contemporary way rather than authorize and changing divisions which were wrongly placed. These things sound unsexy but they are very important. They make the comprehension of Commonwealth law far easier for Australians. These improvements complement the government's commitment to creating clearer and more accessible Commonwealth laws and the bills are prepared at the initiative of the Office of Parliamentary Counsel. I commend the office on the quality of this bill and its commitment to maintaining the accuracy and clarity of the Commonwealth statute book. I commend this bill to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Ordered that this bill be returned to the House without amendment.

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