Ahead of the upcoming Budget Week, on Tuesday the Legislative Council discussed a special invite for the Treasurer to speak from the floor of the Legislative Assembly, and readied itself for a fresh series of Budget Estimates hearings. Bills to facilitate the Hill Road upgrade and to amend the Crimes Act in relation to ‘corrupt benefits’ for trustees were both passed, among other items of business. Read on for more…

A SPECIAL MESSAGE AHEAD OF BUDGET WEEK

Next week is Budget Week, with the annual appropriation bills and papers set to be introduced in the Legislative Assembly before making their way to the Council. But with the state’s Treasurer, the Hon Daniel Mookhey, being a member of the Upper House and the Constitution Act 1902 requiring the annual appropriation bills to be introduced by the Treasurer in the Assembly chamber, a special procedure was agreed to facilitate the official budget speech.

On Tuesday, the House received a message from the Assembly inviting the Treasurer to attend the Lower House chamber at 12pm on Tuesday 19 September to give his speech on the 2023/24 budget. With the request considered and agreed to by the Council, this means a member of the Upper House will take the rare step of entering “the other place” to speak from the floor of the green, rather than red, chamber.

This specific procedure was first adopted in 1995 for then-Treasurer Michael Egan, the first Treasurer to be a member of the Upper House. The same procedure was subsequently adopted to authorise Treasurers Michael Costa and Eric Roozendaal to deliver budgets during their tenures between 2006 and 2011. Mr Mookhey is only the fourth Treasurer to be an Upper House member in the Parliament’s 200-year history.

2023/24 BUDGET ESTIMATES

With a new budget comes a new Budget Estimates inquiry process! Each year, this special series of inquiries allows Upper House committees to scrutinise the state budget and to explore issues relevant to the expenditure, performance and effectiveness of government agencies. The process involves an intensive series of public hearings, with our committees examining each ministerial portfolio, as well as the Legislature (the operation of the parliament itself).

On Tuesday, the House agreed to a motion establishing this year’s inquiry and setting out the schedule for the initial 2023/24 Budget Estimates hearings, moved by the Leader of the Government in the Council, the Hon Penny Sharpe. The hearings will begin on 24 October and run through early November. See the schedule on the Parliament’s website here, and stay tuned for more.

PASSED: SYDNEY OLYMPIC PARK AUTHORITY AMENDMENT (HILL ROAD UPGRADE) BILL 2023

Introduced in an earlier sitting week, the Sydney Olympic Park Authority Amendment (Hill Road Upgrade) Bill 2023 amends the Sydney Olympic Park Authority Act 2001 to enable certain land in the Millennium Parklands to be acquired for the purposes of the Hill Road upgrade.

The Hill Road is a core component of the Carter Street urban renewal precinct, located adjacent to Sydney Olympic Park, where 6200 new homes, along with a new commercial and retail centre, will be built close to public transport. It will enable the delivery of the precinct’s master plan, and deliver improved connectivity to the Sydney Olympic Park precinct and the residential and commercial centres of Newington and Wentworth Park. Further details of the bill can be found in our earlier blog entry.

During Tuesday’s second reading debate, contributions were made by the Opposition and The Greens. See all members’ contributions on the Hansard record.

Both the second and third readings were agreed to on the voices, before the bill was sent to the Assembly for concurrence.

PASSED: CRIMES AMENDMENT (CORRUPT BENEFITS FOR TRUSTEES) BILL 2023

Passed by the Legislative Assembly earlier in the day, the Crimes Amendment (Corrupt Benefits for Trustees) Bill 2023 was introduced in the Council by Parliamentary Secretary the Hon Mark Buttigieg on behalf of the Treasurer, the Hon Daniel Mookhey.

The bill amends the Crimes Act 1900 to expressly require “corrupt” conduct in order to establish the offence under section 249E of the Act relating to corrupt benefits – in simple terms, the part of the Act that’s in place to prevent trustees from being persuaded by the prospect of personal gain in exchange for appointing substitute trustees.

Section 249E (2) of the Crimes Act currently provides for an offence where (a) a person entrusted with property receives or solicits a benefit for anyone as an inducement or reward for the appointment of any person to be entrusted with the property, or (b) any person offers or gives a benefit to a person entrusted with property as an inducement or reward for the appointment of any person to be entrusted with the property without the consent of either all of the beneficiaries of the trust or the Supreme Court.

In his second reading speech, Mr Buttigieg noted that the bill responds to concerns expressed by stakeholders following recent decisions of the NSW Supreme Court finding that a corrupt purpose is not required for the offence in s 249E to be made out. As a result, there is a large number of routine, good-faith transactions that may potentially be captured by s 249E as currently drafted. Further details of the bill can be found in Mr Buttigieg’s second reading speech.

During the second reading debate, contributions were made by members of the Opposition, The Greens, and the Government. See all members’ contributions in Hansard.

Both the second and third readings of the bill were agreed to on the voices, with the bill then returned to the Legislative Assembly, ready to be forwarded to the Governor for assent.

DISALLOWANCE MOTION RELATING TO SURVEILLANCE DEVICES

Among the House’s robust powers is the ability to disallow delegated legislation – that is, legislation made by the executive under the authority of the Parliament, which can include statutory rules, regulations, by-laws and other such instruments.

On Tuesday afternoon, as moved by the Hon John Ruddick (Liberal Democratic Party), the Council debated a motion to disallow the Surveillance Devices Amendment (ICAC) Regulation 2023. The regulation was made to exempt the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) from certain provisions of the Surveillance Devices Act 2007 relating to the use of surveillance device recordings unlawfully obtained by others.

During debate, contributions were heard from members of the Government, Opposition, Shooters, Fishers and Farmers, Animal Justice Party and The Greens, as well as the House’s Independent members. Read the full proceedings in Hansard here and also here.

The disallowance motion was negatived on division (Ayes: 15/ Noes: 24). Voting in the negative were members of the Government, Shooters, Fishers and Farmers, Animal Justice Party, The Greens, Legalise Cannabis Party, Pauline Hanson’s One Nation and Independent Mark Latham.

THREE NEW INQUIRIES REPORTED

The following new inquiries were reported in the House on Tuesday:

COMMITTEE REPORTS & ‘TAKE NOTE’ DEBATES

These committee reports were tabled or reported in the House:

There were also take-note debates for reports and government responses to them, including those relating to reports Impact of the Western Harbour Tunnel and Beaches Link, Execution of search warrants by the Australian Federal Police No. 5, and Electoral Funding Amendment Bill 2023.

GENERAL MOTIONS

The following motions were agreed to without debate, during the morning’s formal business:

DOCUMENTS TABLED AND REPORTED IN THE HOUSE

Among the documents tabled and reported on Tuesday were:

The Clerk also announced receipt of a number of statutory reports presented since the last sitting.

Find all statutory report and papers tabled and reported in our Tabled Papers Database.

One thought on “In the House – Tuesday 12 September 2023”

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