Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I present the 11th report of 2011 of the Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills. I also lay on the table Scrutiny of Bills Alert Digest No. 11 of 2011, dated 21 September 2011.

Ordered that the report be printed.

I move:

That the Senate take note of the report.

In tabling the committee's Alert Digest No.11 of 2011, the Senate may be interested to know that the majority of the bills scrutinised for this Alert Digest relate to the government's climate change package. In scrutinising the provisions of the 19 bills forming part of this legislative package against the principles outlined in standing order 24, the scrutiny committee has identified a number of provisions for comment. The issues raised are those typically considered by scrutiny bodies. In relation to many of the provisions, the committee had enough information available to it to outline the particular circumstances, discuss the scrutiny principle of interest and then draw the provision to the Senate's attention for further consideration. However, in relation to a few provisions, the committee is of the view that further information is required to fully understand the justification for the proposed approach. These are also outlined in the Alert Digest and the committee will write to relevant ministers seeking advice on the points raised.

I also take this opportunity to draw the Senate's attention to a topic of particular interest to it at present. The committee is currently focusing on practical ways in which to improve the scrutiny of uniform national legislative schemes. These schemes involve cooperation between jurisdictions and they can be founded on intergovernmental agreements and text based referrals of legislation. The concern is that bills can be presented to parliament with advice that, for the Commonwealth to be able to rely on the referral from the states and territories, the bill cannot be substantially amended from the form in which it is first introduced. Although the parliament technically retains the right to significantly amend any bill that is before it for consideration, as this circumstance highlights, in practical terms this is not always realistic. The scrutiny committee can provide technical advice about bills to ensure that they are consistent with scrutiny principles. This can assist to avoid legal deficiencies and subsequent challenges to legislation, but the committee's advice cannot be put to good use if it is not implemented.

The committee intends drawing the issue of the scrutiny of national schemes of legislation to the attention of ministers as relevant bills are introduced. The committee will seek to work with ministers to identify effective ways in which to provide our technical expertise at an early stage in the development of cooperative scheme laws without jeopardising any proposed legislative schemes. We are also considering this issue more broadly as part of our current inquiry into the committee's future role and direction.

In conclusion, the full details of the committee's views about the bills it considered this week are available in the Alert Digest and in the report which is being tabled today. I commend the committee's Alert Digest No. 11 of 2011 and the 11th report of 2011 to the Senate.