In the House – Wednesday 16 May 2018

National Redress Scheme for Institutional Child Sexual Abuse (Commonwealth Powers) Bill 2018

House of Origin: Legislative Assembly

A recommendation of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was the establishment of a national scheme to provide redress to survivors of institutional child sexual abuse.

The bill refers certain matters relating to the National Redress Scheme for Institutional Child Sexual Abuse to the Commonwealth Parliament so as to enable the Commonwealth Parliament to make laws about those matters. The text of the Commonwealth Bill is included in Schedule 1 of the bill. The Commonwealth bill sets out how national redress scheme will operate and to whom the scheme will apply.

New South Wales is the first State to introduce a referral bill, with Victoria expected to soon follow and introduce a similar bill. The Commonwealth Parliament recently introduced the bill included at Schedule 1 so that the National Redress Scheme can start on 1 July this year.

The House received the bill from the Assembly and it was read a first time at the start of proceedings on Tuesday. Debate on the second reading commenced after Question Time (see Hansard for a transcript of the debate). During the debate Mr Shoebridge (The Greens) foreshadowed that in the committee stage he would move amendments to the text of the Commonwealth Bill. The foreshadowed amendments sought to remove certain exclusions to entitlement to redress contained in the bill, notably excluding persons where the person is sentenced to imprisonment for five years or longer, or where a security notice is in force in relation to the person.

An interesting question to arise in relation to The Greens amendments was whether the House can, or should, consider amendments to a bill to give effect to an agreement between the Commonwealth and state governments (inter-governmental agreements). If agreed to, such amendments may result in New South Wales legislation being inconsistent with legislation passed in other Australian jurisdictions.

In the committee stage, the chair ruled that that there is nothing to prevent the House from considering amendments to such a bill, or even rejecting the bill outright. Mr Shoebridge then moved The Greens amendments. The amendments did not garner any support and were not agreed to. Speakers acknowledged the merit of the objective of the amendments but stated that their primary concern was not to cause any delay to the commencement of the national scheme (see Hansard).

The third reading of the bill was then agreed to and the bill was returned to the Legislative Assembly without amendment.

Transport Administration Amendment (Sydney Metro) Bill 2018

House of origin: Legislative Assembly

The bill amends the Transport Administration Act 1988 to facilitate the development, implementation and operation of a metro in Sydney by constituting Sydney Metro as a corporation which is a NSW Government agency. The bill also provides generally for the corporation’s management and functions and makes consequential amendments to other legislation.

Debate on the second reading of the bill resumed on Wednesday (see Hansard for details of the debate). The second reading of the bill was agreed to on division (22:16) and the third reading was agreed to on the voices. The bill was returned to the Legislative Assembly without amendment.

Health Legislation Amendment Bill (No 2) 2018

House of origin: Legislative Council

The bill proposes amendments to certain health-related Acts, namely the Health Care Complaints Act 1993, Health Practitioner Regulation (Adoption of National Law) Act 2009, Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Act 1966, Private Health Facilities Act 2007 and Public Health Act 2010. As noted by the Parliamentary Secretary, the legislation was developed following the recent review by the Ministry of Health of the regulation of cosmetic procedures and the Ministry’s regular review of legislation to ensure that it remains up to date and fit for purpose.

The Parliamentary Secretary (Mrs Taylor) introduced the bill and gave the second reading speech on Wednesday 16 May (see Hansard for details of the second reading speech). At the conclusion of the speech debate was adjourned for five calendar days.

Road Transport Legislation Miscellaneous Amendments Bill 2018

House of origin: Legislative Council

The bill makes minor amendments to the Heavy Vehicle (Adoption of National Law) Act 2013 in anticipation of proposed amendments to the Heavy Vehicle National Law; increases the maximum penalties for certain parking offences under the Local Government Act 1993; increases the maximum penalty for offences relating to the use of unregistered motor vehicles under the Motor Vehicles Taxation Act 1988; and amends the Road Transport Act 2013 and the Road Transport (Vehicle Registration) Regulation 2017 to make provision with respect to a new national number plate for heavy vehicles that has been agreed to be introduced by the Transport and Infrastructure Council.

The Parliamentary Secretary (Mr Colless) introduced the bill and gave the second reading speech on Wednesday 16 May (see Hansard for details of his speech). At the conclusion of the speech debate was adjourned for five calendar days.

Order for papers – Sydney Stadiums

Immediately before the adjournment of the House, correspondence was received from the Department of Premier and Cabinet in response to an enquiry from two members as to whether all relevant documents had been produced in response to the order for papers made on 15 March 2018 regarding Sydney Stadiums. The correspondence advised that no agency or Minister’s office named in the resolution had identified any additional documents for production.

Adjournment debate

The following members spoke to the adjournment debate:

• • Mr Primrose – Local Government
  • Mr Mookhey – Private Vocational Education Providers
  • Mr Buckingham – Darling River Water Management
  • Mr Martin – Gosford Hospital Open Day
  • Mrs Taylor – Gidget Foundation

• See Hansard for details of the debate.