In The House – Tuesday 21 November 2023

As we head into the final sitting weeks of 2023, on Tuesday the Legislative Council agreed to its sitting calendar for the year ahead, and continued debate on bills relating to climate change and the night-time economy in NSW. Read on for more…

Sitting Day Calendar for 2024

The House agreed to the sitting calendar for next year, which can be seen on the Parliament’s website and includes:

• 48 sitting days over 16 weeks (including one reserve week)
• 11 days of hearings in August and September for Budget Estimates 2024/25
• 5 days of supplementary Budget Estimates 2020/21 hearings in December.

As readers will know, when the House isn’t sitting in the chamber, its committees are busy conducting parliamentary inquiries. The Council’s ongoing list of inquiries can be seen here.

NEW BILL INQUIRY AGREED TO

Following the tabling of the latest report from the Selection of Bills Committee by committee Chair the Hon Bob Nanva (Labor), the House agreed to a new inquiry into the Jury Amendment Bill 2023. The bill seeks to amend the Jury Act 1977 in relation to a relevant statutory review. Find out more about the inquiry on the Parliament’s website.

DEBATED: Climate Change (Net Zero Future) Bill 2023

The Climate Change (Net Zero Future) Bill 2023 was debated in the House on Tuesday. The bill seeks to set targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in NSW and to establish the independent Net Zero Commission to monitor, review and provide advice on progress towards these targets. Further details on the bill can be found in our blog from when the bill was introduced in October.

The bill had previously been referred to the Planning and Environment Committee for inquiry, with the report tabled out of session on 17 November . Read the report in full here.

During the second reading debate, contributions were heard from members of the Opposition, The Greens, Independents, Liberal Democratic Party, the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers, the Government and the Legalise Cannabis Party. See all member’s contributions in the Hansard record, also continued here.

At the conclusion of debate, the second reading of the bill was agreed to on division (Ayes: 31/Noes: 5), with the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers, Liberal Democratic Party, the Hon Mark Latham and the Hon Rod Roberts (both Independent) voting in the negative.

With a number of amendments flagged during debate, consideration of the bill in committee of the whole was set down for a future sitting of the House.

DEBATED: 24-HOUR ECONOMY LEGISLATION AMENDMENT (VIBRANCY REFORMS) BILL 2023 & 24-HOUR ECONOMY COMMISSIONER BILL 2023 (IN COGNATE)

Debate on the cognate 24-Hour Economy Legislation Amendment (Vibrancy Reforms) Bill 2023 and the 24-Hour Economy Commissioner Bill 2023 resumed in the House on Tuesday, following their introduction during an earlier sitting.  

The ‘Vibrancy Reforms’ bill seeks to amend the Gaming and Liquor Administration Act 2007, the Liquor Act 2007, and the Liquor Regulation 2018 to increase the vibrancy of the night-time economy by  making a suite of changes to address sound management for licenced venues, including introducing certain exemptions from noise pollution provisions and streamlining the regulation of noise-related matters. The 24-Hour Economy Commissioner Bill 2023 would provide for a 24-Hour Economy Commissioner to be appointed under the Government Sector Employment Act 2013.

Find full details on each of these bills in our previous blog.

Contributions to Tuesday’s debate were made by members of the Opposition and The Greens. Read all member’s contributions in the Hansard record.

With the 10pm hard adjournment looming, the second reading debate was then adjourned until a future meeting of the House.

GENERAL MOTIONS

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

• Tribute to Betty Hounslow, AM, moved by the Hon Penny Sharpe (Labor)
• Chinese Australian Services Society, moved by the Hon Mark Buttigieg (Labor)

DOCUMENTS TABLED AND REPORTED IN THE HOUSE

Among the documents tabled and reported on Tuesday were:

• Ageing and Disability Commission Annual Report for the year ended 30 June 2023
• Official Community Visitors Annual Report for the year ended 30 June 2023
• NSW Police Force Aboriginal Strategic Direction 2018-2023 monitoring report, an October 2023 report of the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission
• Operation Tepito, an October 2023 report of the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission
• NSW Ombudsman Annual Report for the year ended 30 June 2023
• NSW Child Death Review Team Annual Report for the year ended 30 June 2023
• The Independent Commission Against Corruption Annual Report for the year ended 30 June 2023
• Operation Tolosa, a November 2023 report of the Independent Commission Against Corruption
• Office of the Inspector of the Independent Commission Against Corruption Annual Report for the year ended 30 June 2023
• Office of the Advocate for Children and Young People for the year ended 30 June 2023
• Report on Parliamentary priorities, an October 2023 report by Liquor & Gaming NSW
• Report on Implementation of Night-time Economy Reforms, an October 2023 report by Liquor & Gaming NSW
• Anti-Slavery Commissioner Annual Report for the year ended 30 June 2023
• Report to Parliament pursuant to section 154 of the Electoral Funding Act 2018 by the New South Wales Electoral Commission for the year ended 30 June 2023

Find all tabled and reported documents in our Tabled Papers Database.