Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

If it rained now, we would be heroes. Joh Bjelke-Petersen always used to claim that whenever it rained, particularly in a drought time, it was his doing. I was not a great fan of Bjelke-Petersen’s, I might say, and I knew that that was not true. However, certainly that disallowance power has been used by the Australian government only where the national interest needed to be protected by this parliament. I was just making the point that it was not even the Australian government in that instance; it was the free vote of all parliamentarians here. Senator Brown and I happened to be on the wrong side then, but the result of that vote resulted from the will of those who had been elected by all Australians to represent them in this house and in the other place. The exercise of that disallowance power, as I say, is subject to approval by the Governor-General. It is a disallowable instrument and it can be disallowed by parliament.

Senator Brown’s reason, as I understand it from his very brief speech, is that he wants parliamentary scrutiny of these disallowance powers. However, what Senator Brown is proposing will not in any way increase parliamentary scrutiny. The debate I referred to previously and other debates that we have had where there has been an overriding of a territory power that has been subject to a disallowance motion have been long, heated, passionate and emotional. However, you could not for a moment suggest that they have lacked the parliamentary scrutiny that the disallowance power has. I think it is probably a good thing too that we do have this ability to have parliamentary scrutiny. But this proposal of Senator Brown’s will in no way increase the parliamentary scrutiny of that disallowance power.

Under Senator Brown’s bill, the Australian government would have to make laws to override unacceptable territory laws. Having new laws passed to repeal other new laws will be confusing for citizens, it will extend the time for doing these things and it will make the whole process much more drawn out. However, under the current system, you can get a decision. It may not be a decision that we all like. As I say, there has been an instance where Senator Brown and I probably did not like the outcome. However, it is there. (Time expired)