Julian McGauran (Victoria, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

At the request of the Chair of the Standing Committee on Regulations and Ordinances, I give notice that 15 sitting days after today I shall move that the following legislative instruments, a list of which I shall hand to the Clerk, be disallowed.

The list read as follows—

(1)

Australian Prudential Regulation Authority Instrument Fixing Charges No. 1 of 2006 made under paragraph 51(1)(A) of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority Act 1998.

(2)

Aviation Transport Security Amendment Regulations 2006 (No. 1), as contained in Select Legislative Instrument 2006 No. 40 and made under the Aviation Transport Security Act 2004.

(3)

Fisheries Levy (Torres Strait Prawn Fishery) Amendment Regulations 2006 (No. 1), as contained in Select Legislative Instrument 2006 No. 3 and made under the Fisheries Levy Act 1984.

(4)

Income Tax (Effective Life of Depreciating Assets) Amendment Determination 2006 (No. 1) made under subsection 40-100(1) of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997.

(5)

Insurance (Prudential Standard) Determination No. 2 of 2006 made under subsection 32(1) of the Insurance Act 1973.

(6)

Insurance (Prudential Standard) Determination No. 3 of 2006 made under subsection 32(1) of the Insurance Act 1973.

(7)

Migration Amendment Regulations 2006 (No. 1), as contained in Select Legislative Instrument 2006 No. 10 and made under the Migration Act 1958.

(8)

Occupational Health and Safety (Commonwealth Employment) (National Standards) Amendment Regulations 2006 (No. 2), as contained in Select Legislative Instrument 2006 No. 9 and made under the Occupational Health and Safety (Commonwealth Employment) Act 1991.

I seek leave to incorporate in Hansard a short summary of the matters raised by the committee.

Leave granted.

The summary read as follows—

Australian Prudential Regulation Authority Instrument Fixing Charges No. 1 of 2006

This Instrument specifies charges payable on a voluntary basis by those general insurers who contribute data to and receive information from the National Claims and Policies Database during each of the 2004-05 and 2005-06 financial years.

The Committee has written to the Minister seeking advice on the following matters.

First, the instrument is dated 10 February 2005. It is not clear whether the date of signing of this instrument contains a typographical error (in that it should refer to 10 February 2006), or whether there has been a 12 month delay in registering the instrument.

Secondly, the instrument specifies charges for a period of time before it was made (whether that be February 2005 or 2006).

Thirdly, it is not clear in which sense the charge is voluntary. Clauses 4 and 5 of the Schedule to the instrument state that the charge is to be paid by an insurer within 28 days following receipt of a request and invoice from APRA.

Finally, the instrument contains three different definitions of the term ‘NCPD insurer’. One is found in the general interpretation section of the instrument. The second is found in clause 7 of the Schedule. The second definition varies from the first by adding the words ‘or Lloyd’s underwriter’ and ‘or reportable facility business’. The third definition is found in the Annexure A. The third definition varies from the second by referring to 1 January 2003, instead of 1 January 2006, the latter date being used in the first two definitions.

Aviation Transport Security Amendment Regulations 2006 (No. 1), Select Legislative Instrument 2006 No. 40

These Regulations amend regulation 9.01 of the principal Regulations, concerning the making of threats regarding aviation security. The Explanatory Statement accompanying these Regulations does not contain a consultation statement in accordance with section 17 of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003. The Minister advised that consultation was undertaken during the development of these Regulations and the Committee is seeking further advice on the nature of that consultation.

Fisheries Levy (Torres Strait Prawn Fishery) Amendment Regulations 2006 (No. 1), Select Legislative Instrument 2006 No. 3

These Regulations specify a levy for licences granted or renewed in the Torres Strait Prawn Fishery. The Explanatory Statement accompanying these Regulations does not contain a consultation statement in accordance with section 17 of the Legislative Instruments Act 200 The Committee has written to the Minister seeking advice on whether consultation was undertaken and, if so, the nature of that consultation.

Income Tax (Effective Life of Depreciating Assets) Amendment Determination 2006 (No. 1) made under subsection 40-100(1) of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997

This instrument amends the principal Determination concerning the effective life, for tax treatment purposes, of copyright in a feature film.

This instrument was made on 14 February 2006 and is expressed to commence retrospectively on 1 July 2004. The Explanatory Statement does not contain an assurance, in terms of subsection 12(2) of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003, that this retrospective operation does not adversely affect the rights or liabilities of any person other than the Commonwealth. The Committee has written to the Minister seeking an assurance that no person has been adversely affected.

Insurance (Prudential Standard) Determination No. 2 of 2006

Insurance (Prudential Standard) Determination No. 3 of 2006

These Determinations specify prudential standards for general insurers governing risk management, audit and actuarial reporting valuation.

Clause 4 of Determination No. 2 of 2006 permits certain requirements to be complied with on an insurance group basis, provided that the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has been notified and has agreed. The clause does not specify that this notification, or APRA’s agreement should be in writing.

Clause 35 of Determination No. 3 of 2006 states that an approved auditor or actuary must not notify an insurer of certain matters where there is “a situation of mistrust” between the auditor or actuary and the board or senior manager of the insurer. The scope of the expression ‘a situation of mistrust’ is uncertain, and may cause difficulties for auditors or actuaries.

The Minister has responded to the Committee’s concerns with these instruments but the Committee has decided to seek further information on the above matters.

Migration Amendment Regulations 2006 (No. 1), Select Legislative Instrument 2006 No. 10

These Regulations amend the principal Regulations concerning the scope of certain powers of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the discretion of the Minister for Immigration in granting visas in certain circumstances.

Item [1] of Schedule 1 to these Regulations provides that the Minister for Foreign Affairs may determine, as a ground for cancellation of a visa, that the holder of a visa is a person whose presence in Australia is contrary to Australia’s foreign policy interests, or is directly or indirectly associated with the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The Minister for Foreign Affairs advised that the term ‘contrary to Australia’s foreign policy interests’ is to be given its ordinary meaning, with decisions on visa applications and/or visas made personally by the Minister for Foreign Affairs on a case-by-case basis. The Committee has written to the Minister seeking a briefing on this matter.

Occupational Health and Safety (Commonwealth Employment) (National Standards) Amendment Regulations 2006 (No. 2), Select Legislative Instrument 2006 No. 9

These Regulations amend the principal Regulations to give effect to the national standard for the Storage and Handling of Workplace Dangerous Goods.

Regulation 8.15 imposes an obligation on an employer to identify hazards that are associated with the storage or handling of dangerous goods at the workplace. Subregulation 8.15(2) supplies a non-inclusive list of matters that are to be taken into account in identifying such hazards. Paragraph 8.15(2)(g) requires an employer to consider ‘the kind and characteristics of incidents associated with the dangerous goods’. The ambit of the word ‘incidents’ is unclear.

Subregulation 8.27(4) imposes an obligation on an employer to review an emergency plan at certain times. No offence is specified for a failure to comply with this obligation. It is not clear whether this is intended to be an offence-creating provision. Further, under subparagraph 8.27(4)(b) the obligation to review an emergency plan arises if there is a change in circumstances at the workplace. The ambit of the phrase ‘change in circumstances’ is unclear and is not defined.

The Minister advised that Comcare is developing a Code of Practice to support the Regulations that will provide further examples and circumstances of what should be considered dangerous goods incidents when identifying and assessing risks and that it was therefore not necessary to include such examples in the Regulations. The Committee has written again to the Minister seeking further advice as to why this information cannot be included in the Regulations.