Chris Ellison (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Justice and Customs) Share this | Hansard source

I give notice that, on the next day of sitting, I shall move:

That the provisions of paragraphs (5) to (8) of standing order 111 not apply to the following bills, allowing them to be considered during this period of sittings:Defence Legislation Amendment Bill 2006 and the Royal Commissions Amendment (Records) Bill 2006.

I also table statements of reasons justifying the need for these bills to be considered during these sittings and seek leave to have the statements incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The statements read as follows—

Defence Legislation Amendment Bill 2006

Purpose of the bill

The bill amends the Defence Force Discipline Act 1982, the Defence Force Discipline Appeals Act 1955 and the Defence Act 1903 to:

• establish the Australian Military Court in accordance with the government response to agreed recommendations to the 2005 Senate Inquiry Report into the military justice system; and
• replace the Court martial and Defence Force Magistrate trial system with the Australian Military Court.

Reasons for Urgency

The creation of the Australian Military Court is one of the major outcomes of the Senate Inquiry into The effectiveness of the military justice system conducted in 2004, which was critical of the military justice system.

In tabling its response to the 2005 Senate report, the government directed a two year implementation period for the agreed recommendations. This implementation period expires at the end of 2007. Passage of the bill in the 2006 Spring sittings is therefore fundamental to allow for the establishment and commencement of the new system within the implementation period.

(Circulated by the authority of the Minister Assisting the Minister for Defence)

Royal Commissions Amendment (Records) Bill 2006

Purpose of the bill

The bill amends the Royal Commissions Act 1902 to enable regulations to facilitate provision of custody and use of, and access to, records of royal commissions, including those of the Inquiry into Certain Australian Companies in relation to the UN Oil-for-Food Programme (the Cole Inquiry).

The bill will remove any argument that there might be a requirement to provide procedural fairness to persons who could be adversely affected if documents obtained by the Cole Inquiry, or any other royal commission, for its purposes, were to be made available to other persons or agencies and used for other purposes. Providing procedural fairness in respect of use of documents could be very time-consuming, and is arguably unnecessary and unmeritorious, particularly in a law enforcement context. The government therefore considers it prudent to legislate to allow royal commission records to be used for defined purposes without having to provide procedural fairness, and is taking the opportunity to provide a framework which can be used for future royal commissions, without needing additional legislation.

The bill will insert a regulation-making power to enable regulations to be made to give custody or access to records to persons and bodies, which could then use and deal with those records, without any prior need to notify and consult those who might be adversely affected by the release and use of the records. The amendments broadly follow and generalise the model in the HIH Royal Commission (Transfer of Records) Act 2003.

Reasons for Urgency

The bill will enable the making of regulations concerning the provision of relevant records of the Cole Inquiry to appropriate authorities, including for law enforcement purposes. Such regulations will assist in expediting consideration of whether proceedings should be commenced in relation to the possible breaches of the law identified by the Cole Inquiry. The government therefore considers that the bill should be passed during the current sitting.

(Circulated by authority of the Prime Minister)