Chris Ellison (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I present the 10th report of 2008 of the Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills. I lay on the table Scrutiny of Bills Alert Digest No. 10 of 2008 and I also present the report Work of the Committee during the 41^st Parliament.

Ordered that the reports be printed.

I move:

That the Senate take note of the reports.

I seek leave to incorporate my remarks in the attached statement.

Leave granted.

The statement read as follows—

Today, in addition to tabling the committee’s Tenth Report of 2008 and Alert Digest No. 10 of 2008, I am pleased to table a Report on the Work of the Committee during the 41st Parliament.

This 41st Parliament Report discusses the scrutiny work that the committee carried out between November 2004 and October 2007 and also provides statistical data. The report should prove particularly useful to Ministers and their advisers, as it contains examples of how the committee applies the scrutiny criteria set out in Standing Order 24.

As outlined in Chapter 1 of this report, for some years the committee has expressed concern about the quality of the explanatory memoranda accompanying many of the bills that come before it. During the 40th Parliament the committee dedicated its Third Report of 2004 to a discussion of this issue.

During the 41st Parliament, in March 2007, the Government finally tabled a response to that report, agreeing to update the Legislation Handbook to address a number of the issues raised by the committee. Unfortunately, at the end of the 41st Parliament the Government had yet to implement these commitments.

The committee is of the view that access to a Legislation Handbook which is regularly updated to ensure that it reflects current drafting policy and practice will assist public servants to develop high quality legislation and explanatory material.

It is of concern to the committee that the current Handbook, which is administered by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, has not been updated since May 2000. The committee recently wrote to the Prime Minister seeking his advice on progress in updating the Handbook and we look forward to his response.

During the 41st Parliament, in addition to its legislative scrutiny work, the committee also finalised an inquiry into entry, search and seizure provisions in Commonwealth legislation. The committee’s report on that inquiry is discussed in Chapter 7 of this report.

The Scrutiny of Bills Committee depends on the contributions of many people. During the 41st Parliament, the committee was ably chaired by Senator Robert Ray. The committee also had many distinguished members – Senator Judith Adams, Senator Guy Barnett, Senator David Johnston, Senator Anne McEwen, Senator Gavin Marshall, Senator Brett Mason, Senator Andrew Murray and Senator Stephen Parry.

The effectiveness of the Scrutiny of Bills Committee is also dependent upon the responsiveness of both Ministers and Senators. It is when the Reports and Alert Digests issued by the committee are considered and acted upon by Ministers and the Senate that the work of the committee has its greatest effect, both in improving the legislation considered by the Parliament, and in improving the quality of debate in respect of that legislation.

On behalf of the committee, I would like to put on record our thanks to all those who have helped us achieve what we have.

I commend the Report to the Senate.

Question agreed to.