Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs, I present the committee's report entitled, Advisory report: Territories Self-Government Legislation Amendment (Disallowance and Amendment of Laws) Bill 2011, incorporating a dissenting report together with the minutes of proceedings. I ask leave of the House to make a short statement in connection with the report.

Leave granted.

The Territories Self-Government Legislation Amendment (Disallowance and Amendment of Laws) Bill 2011 was referred to this committee for inquiry and report. This is the fifth bill referred to the committee that I chaired in the last four months.

In September, I tabled the committee's advisory report on the Extradition and Mutual Assistance Bill and I thank the Minister for Home Affairs for his consideration of the committee recommendations and for the expediency of the government response. That process demonstrated the valuable contribution that committees can make in the scrutiny of bills before the parliament.

This week I rise to table the committee's advisory report on the Territories Self-Government Legislation Amendment (Disallowance and Amendment of Laws) Bill 2011. I would like to say that the committee has again made a valuable contribution to the scrutiny of a bill; however, this is a bill which has already undergone scrutiny and committee inquiry in the Senate, with over 200 submissions received and a series of public hearings held. The bill was then amended in line with the recommendations of the Senate inquiry.

When our committee considered the consultation and scrutiny that had already taken place, it concluded that a further call for submissions and a series of public hearings would duplicate the process without any discernible gain. The committee has examined the report of the Senate inquiry and finds that it fairly represents all views expressed through submissions and its hearings.

The bill aims to provide greater independence to the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory by removing the power of the Governor-General to disallow laws of these territories. The parliament will continue to retain the power to make laws for those territories as this is provided under section 122 of the Australian Constitution. There was strong support for the bill from the legislative assemblies of both territories and from the majority of substantive submissions to the Senate inquiry.

The committee does note the concern of some submitters to the Senate inquiry that the bill might amend or enhance the capacity of territories to legislate on same-sex marriage or euthanasia. This is not the case, and the Senate inquiry took evidence from a range of legal experts who confirmed that this is not the case.

The committee also notes the dissenting report of Liberal members who suggest that a broader review of self-government for territories is required, and no doubt the member for Murray will make some comment following my comments. It is the view of the majority of the committee that the bill does not impede any broader review or reform of territories' self-government should this take place in the future.

It is the recommendation of the committee that the House of Representatives pass the Territories Self-Government Legislation Amendment (Disallowance and Amendment of Laws) Bill 2011. Thank you.

Sharman Stone (Murray, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to give my remarks in relation to the dissenting report which Mr Vasta and I from the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs presented.

Leave granted.

We of course agree that the issue of self-governance for the territories—the ACT, the Northern Territory and, indeed, Norfolk Island—is a very serious issue. It requires serious debate and bipartisan consideration. We are concerned that this bill appeared to be no more than an attempt by the Leader of the Greens, Senator Bob Brown, in the Senate, to introduce bills which were more about their own party political agenda than looking at the broader issue of self-governance of the Australian territories. We felt seriously concerned that there was not the scrutiny that was required in a bipartisan sense.

In particular, this bill changes sections in the self-government acts. It would repeal some sections in the following way:

The Governor-General may disallow a law or part of a law made by the relevant Legislative Assembly within six months after it is made;

…   …   …

If amendments are recommended, the time within which the law may be disallowed is extended by six months from that date;

Once the disallowance is published on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments,[2] the law is considered to be repealed, and any law that was amended or repealed by the disallowed law comes back into force.

So we are concerned that we still need to have this debate. This particular piece of legislation which looks at the ACT and the Northern Territory, as proposed by the leader of the Greens in the Senate, even included Norfolk Island for some time, until that was seen as just too ridiculous to add without proper debate and consideration. We have put in this dissenting report. We believe, as did our colleagues in the Senate, that the territories' statehood and greater independence is a serious matter and we need a considered debate with engagement from the stakeholders in those places. We should not have it slipped through in the shadows with another agenda—for example, changes to marriage or euthanasia legislation, which need to be dealt with independently as they are matters that have their own import. Those matters should not be slipped through under the guise of a bill that purports to deal with statehood.