Government business

Road Transport Legislation Amendment (Penalties and Other Sanctions) Bill

House of Origin: Legislative Assembly

On 18 September the House had agreed to a Selection of Bills Committee recommendation that the bill be referred to the Standing Committee on Law and Justice for inquiry and report at the conclusion of the second reading debate. The second reading debate commenced later that day but was interrupted by Questions.

On Wednesday the second reading debate on the bill resumed. When debate concluded, the President advised the House that according to the earlier resolution, the bill would stand referred to the Standing Committee on Law and Justice for report by Tuesday 25 September 2018.

The committee inquiry should be completed and the report tabled by the first sitting day of next week.

Strata Schemes Management Amendment (Building Defects Scheme) Bill 2018

House of Origin: Legislative Assembly

The bill amends the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 in relation to the scheme for rectifying building defects in new strata schemes. The bill makes a number of amendments to the Act, including the introduction of a penalty for a developer knowingly giving false or misleading information to the Commissioner for Fair Trading regarding the contract price of building work. The bill also provides that a building bond amount can be claimed to meet certain unpaid costs that would otherwise be payable under the building defects scheme by a developer if the developer has died, ceased to exist, is bankrupt or insolvent.

The bill was introduced into the Council on Wednesday afternoon by the Parliamentary Secretary, Mr MacDonald with the House proceeding directly to the second reading debate. See Hansard for a transcript of that debate.

In the committee stage, the Opposition moved five amendments while The Greens moved three. The amendments related to the liability and appointment of building inspectors, and the liability of professional associations. The House did not agree to the proposed amendments, with the Opposition amendments defeated on division (16:18) and The Greens amendments negatived on the voices. The third reading was then agreed to, and the bill was returned to the Legislative Assembly without amendment.

Criminal Procedure Amendment (Pre-trial Disclosure) Bill 018

House of Origin: Legislative Assembly

The Bill amends the Criminal Procedure Act 1986 to give effect to recommendations of the statutory review of the Act by expanding pre-trial disclosure requirements for indictable criminal matters in the District Court of New South Wales and the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The bill requires the defence to disclose four additional matters: any expert reports that it intends to rely on; whether it intends to challenge the continuity of custody of a prosecution exhibit; whether it will seek to amend the indictment or to make an application for separate trials; and whether it will seek edits to audio or video evidence that the prosecutor intends to rely on. The prosecution has two additional obligations under the bill; to provide transcripts of audio or visual evidence it proposes to adduce; and to give notice if it disputes edits to audio or visual evidence proposed by the defence. The expanded mandatory pre-trial disclosure requirements are intended to make trials more efficient and transparent.

The House received the bill from the Assembly and it was read a first time on Tuesday. Debate on the second reading took place on Wednesday. See Hansard for a transcript of the debate.

The second and third readings were agreed to and the bill was returned to the Legislative Assembly without amendment.

Children (Education and Care Services) Supplementary Provisions Amendment Bill 2018

House of origin: Legislative Council

The bill provides for closer alignment of State and National legislation and for greater regulation by the Children (Education and Care Services) National Law (NSW) regarding education and care services in New South Wales. This includes: applying the National Law, National Quality Standard, National Quality Framework and fees and penalties to mobile and occasional education and care services; discontinuing State regulation of home based and shopping centre child care services; and other related amendments, including minor changes to Working with Children requirements.

The bill had been introduced by the Minister for Early Childhood Education in the previous sitting week at which time she gave her second reading speech. Debate on the second reading of the bill resumed on Wednesday (see Hansard for details of the debate).

The Opposition did not oppose the bill but argued that a number of issues require scrutiny such as priorities concerning the assessment of childcare services, the level of funding for early child care and the transition provisions surrounding the bill.

The Greens supported the bill but argued that NSW spends the lowest portion of its budget on early learning services compared to other States and that such services are skewed towards long day care and for-profit centres. The Christian Democratic Party supported the bill noting the importance of high quality pre-school education for later educational and behavioural outcomes.

The second and third readings were agreed to and the bill was forwarded to the Legislative Assembly for concurrence.

RSL NSW Bill 2018

House of origin: Legislative Assembly

The bill was introduced into the Parliament following an inquiry conducted by the Hon. Patricia Bergin SC which investigated RSL NSW’s fundraising activities and allegations of financial misconduct. The inquiry reported in January 2018 and found that the current corporate governance framework of RSL NSW is not sufficient to ensure the organisation is accountable to its members.

The bill seeks to reform the governance of RSL NSW, and includes provisions to establish a board of directors, and a process for their election, as well as transparency mechanisms such as providing an annual report to the Parliament and for board directors to disclosure their pecuniary interests. The bill does not directly address those recommendations of the inquiry which concern charitable fundraising activities more generally which are regulated by the Charitable Fundraising Act 1991.

The House received the bill from the Assembly and it was read a first time on Wednesday. Debate on the second reading took place later that day (see Hansard to follow the debate). The second reading was agreed to.

In the committee stage four amendments were moved by the Opposition. Two amendments concerning the composition of the board of directors were negatived on the voices. The other amendments that sought to prohibit RSL NSW from making a political donation and to remove the clause in the bill relating to remunerating directors were each defeated on division (16:19).

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

Workers Compensation Legislation Amendment Bill 2018

House of origin: Legislative Council

The bill amends the Workers Compensation Act 1987 and the Workplace Injury Management and Workers Compensation Act 1998 to simplify the dispute resolution process for injured workers when navigating the workers compensation scheme.

The Standing Committee on Law and Justice in its March 2017 report identified that there is an unnecessary level of duplication and complexity in the current scheme and recommended that the Government consider establishing a one-stop shop for resolving all workers compensation disputes. The Department of Finance, Services and Innovation then commissioned research to examine the experience of injured workers which confirmed the need for simplification.

The bill therefore seeks to establish the Workers Compensation Commission as the central dispute resolution body in the scheme, improve and clarify key legislative provisions to reduce and prevent disputes, introduce measures to modernise the operation of the workers compensation legislation, and allow the scheme regulator SIRA to more effectively undertake its regulatory and oversight functions.

The Parliamentary Secretary (Mr MacDonald), on behalf of Minister Harwin introduced the bill and gave his second reading speech on Wednesday (see Hansard for a transcript of his speech). At the conclusion of the speech, debate was adjourned for five calendar days.

Water NSW Amendment (Warragamba Dam) Bill 2018

House of Origin: Legislative Council

The bill amends the Water NSW Act 2014 regarding the temporary inundation of national park land resulting from the raising of the wall of Warragamba Dam and the operation of the dam to facilitate downstream flood mitigation. The bill provides that the temporary inundation of national park land resulting from the Warragamba Dam project does not require any lease, licence, easement or right of way under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974. Under the bill Water NSW is required to prepare a draft environmental management plan relating to the temporary inundation of national park land resulting from the Warragamba Dam project.

The bill was introduced on Wednesday 19 September and the Minister Blair gave his second reading speech (see Hansard for a transcript of the speech). At the conclusion of the Minister’s speech debate was adjourned for five calendar days.

Community Gaming Bill 2018

House of Origin: Legislative Council

The bill provides a framework for the regulation of gaming activities for community or charitable purposes. It also seeks to ensure that the proceeds and profits of permitted gaming activities go to the persons, purposes or organisations for which the activities are purported to be conducted. The bill applies to a number of types of gaming activities, including games of chance and the awarding of a prize by lot. The bill makes it an offence if a person or body conducts a gaming activity and fails to award a prize to the activity winner.

The bill was introduced on Wednesday 19 September and Mr Clarke (on behalf of Minister Blair) gave his second reading speech (see Hansard for a transcript of the speech). At the conclusion of the Parliamentary Secretary’s speech debate was adjourned for five calendar days.

Private members’ business

Government business takes precedence on Wednesdays, however just after the conclusion of formalities in the morning the House agreed to the suspension of standing orders to allow a private member’s motion to proceed. Earlier in the day, it had been proposed that the motion proceed as formal business (that is where the question on the motion is put without debate), but the required leave was not granted.

Reference to Social Issues Committee – Gay and transgender hate crimes (Mr Mallard, Liberal Party)

The motion proposed to refer an inquiry to the Social Issues Committee concerning the response to gay and transgender hate crimes between 1970 and 2010 and current developments in policy and practice in relation to such crimes.

In debate on the motion, the mover, Mr Mallard noted that the proposal to establish the inquiry followed persistent community calls over many years in an effort to achieve some sense of justice for the victims, their families. friends and the community. While there was general support for the motion, Reverend Nile (Christian Democratic Party) stated he had received submissions from the Police Association asking for more time to consider the proposed terms of reference. Reverend Nile indicated that he had opposed the motion proceeding as formal business because he felt that the matter should be the subject of debate in the House.

Following a brief debate, the motion was agreed to on the voices.

Adjournment debate

The following members spoke to the adjournment debate:

  • Mr Searle– Government Energy Policy
  • Ms Faehrmann – Drug Prohibition
  • Mr Mallard – Western Sydney Airport
  • Ms Sharpe – Koala Population
  • Mr Franklin – North Coast Events
  • Dr Phelps – Mount Penny Exploratory Licence

See Hansard for details of the debate.