Helen Coonan (NSW, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I present the 8th report of the Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills. I also lay on the table Scrutiny of Bills Alert Digest No. 8, dated 27 October 2010.

Ordered that the report be printed.

I move:

That the Senate take note of the report

A new parliament usually commences with a burst of activity, and this one has been no different for the Scrutiny of Bills Committee.

The start of the 43rd Parliament has resulted in more than 80 bills for the committee to scrutinise against its terms of reference. The committee has considered these bills in four different categories, which is one of the reasons I am making a few comments at the time of presenting the reports.

The categories are: first of all, bills reintroduced with no changes; the second category is bills reintroduced, but with some changes to be scrutinised by the committee; the third category is bills reintroduced which were not previously considered by the committee; and, the fourth category, new bills

The committee have made our briefing for senators about all of these bills as accessible as we think we can. Alert Digest No. 8 of 2010 contains:

• a list of all reintroduced bills and, importantly, for the convenience of senators and others, a link to a document which consolidates all of the committee’s previous comments about these bills; and
• the committee’s comments on the new bills and on any new provisions in ‘reintroduced’ bills.

In tabling the committee’s Alert Digest No. 8 of 2010 and its 8th report of 2010 I draw the Senate’s attention to the committee’s comments on:

• the Corporations Amendment (No. 1) Bill 2010;
• the Crimes Legislation Amendment Bill 2010; and
• the Defence Legislation Amendment (Security of Defence Premises) Bill 2010.

Earlier in the year I noted the importance of explanatory memoranda—a well-drafted explanatory memorandum can provide the foundation for avoiding adverse comment by the committee, but a poorly-drafted one will attract the committee’s attention.

Particular care should be taken to ensure that explanatory memoranda which adopt a narrative style still adequately address and cross-reference each provision in a bill.

In scrutinising the Corporations Amendment Bill the committee was particularly concerned by the poor quality of the explanatory memorandum accompanying the bill. For example, a number of important provisions relating to search warrants are not discussed at all. In addition, the index to the explanatory memorandum has 15 entries and at least 10 of these contain significant errors. The committee will contact the Treasurer to request that a corrected explanatory memorandum is provided to the parliament.

The Crimes Legislation Amendment Bill and the Security of Defence Premises Bill both contain provisions introducing significant new powers which trespass on personal rights and liberties. The significant question for the Senate is whether they do so unduly. The committee’s comments on these matters are included in Alert Digest No. 8, and I commend them to senators to assist in assessing these provisions.

The committee’s 8th report of 2010 contains responses from ministers to questions asked by the committee about four bills introduced in the 42nd Parliament. The committee particularly thanks the ministers for providing these responses while parliament was prorogued. I note that the information has been very useful as three of these four bills have been reintroduced.

Finally, in conclusion, I note that the committee has taken the opportunity to update the presentation of its Alert Digest and report. I do want to place on record on behalf of the committee our thanks to the secretariat’s legislative research officer, Ingrid Zappe, for her part in this project. I also commend—in their new formats—the Alert Digest No. 8 of 2010 and the 8th report of 2010 to the Senate. I also would like to place on record the committee’s thanks to Toni Dawes, who is doing such a splendid job of heading up the secretariat; and our legal adviser, Leighton McDonald. We have a very good team who manage to marshal information relating to, in this case, 80 bills. It is no mean feat, and without the assistance of such an efficient secretariat we, the committee, would not be able to provide a service which is of such value to the Senate.

Question agreed to.