The Legislative Council was back for 2024 on Tuesday and the House got right down to business, with three bills passed including those related to meetings of the Executive Council and the management of high risk offenders. During a break in proceedings, a very special meeting of both Houses was held in the Legislative Assembly chamber, where members heard an Address from the Governor of Tokyo, a sister state of New South Wales.

Passing of former Member of the Legislative Council, The Hon Michael Egan AO

In a sombre start to the sitting day, the President reported the sad passing of former member, the Hon Michael Egan AO, to the House. Mr Egan was a member of the Legislative Council from 1986 to 2005 and prior to that, a member of the Legislative Assembly from 1978 to 1984. For his parliamentary career he will be remembered as a key figure in the history of the NSW Legislative Council, as well as the state’s longest-serving Treasurer. Members and officers of the House stood as a mark of respect.

We published a tribute to Mr Egan and his contribution to the House last week.

Later in the week the House also debated a special condolence motion commemorating Mr Egan’s service in the House and to the community – you will find a summary of this debate in a future blog in the coming days.

PASSED: Constitution Amendment (Executive Council) Bill 2023

The Constitution Amendment (Executive Council) Bill 2023 was the first piece of Government business debated in the House on Tuesday. The bill, which had been introduced to the House late last year, would amend the Constitution Act 1902 to provide for to virtual meetings of the Executive Council. It would also allow for the Governor, or Vice-President or senior member in their place, to preside over the meeting either in person or online.

Read more about the bill in our blog from when the bill was introduced in late November 2023.

During the second reading debate, contributions were made by members of the Opposition and The Greens, before the  House resolved into committee of the whole to debate one amendment moved by the Hon Susan Carter on behalf of the Opposition. The amendment sought to ensure that Executive Council meetings would only be held remotely in exceptional circumstances. This amendment was negatived on division (16 ayes/21 noes).

With no amendments made, the bill’s third reading was agreed to and it was sent to the Legislative Assembly for concurrence. Find full details of the bill’s passage through the chamber in the Hansard record.

PASSED: Customer Service Legislation Amendment Bill 2023

Also passed in the Legislative Council on Tuesday was the Customer Service Legislation Amendment Bill 2023. Introduced by Parliamentary Secretary the Hon Mark Buttigieg on behalf of Minister Penny Sharpe, the bill deals with three separate areas: charities, retail outlets at the new Western Sydney Airport and the licensing of real estate agents.

Firstly, the bill amends the Charitable Fundraising Act 1991 and the Associations Incorporation Act 2009 to introduce a new model allowing entities registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) to conduct charitable fundraising in NSW without having to apply for state-based authorisation. In his second reading speech, Mr Buttigieg said this would remove duplication in authorisation and reporting requirements, and make it easier and more efficient for charities working across Australia – while NSW Fair Trading would continue to have oversight of operators in the state.

The bill also amends the Property and Stock Agents Act 2002 to allow certificates of registration for entry-level “assistant agents” to be extended beyond the current fixed four-year term, in exceptional circumstances. With four-year terms first introduced in 2020, this change would allow potentially thousands of assistant agents whose certificates would expire this March to extend their registrations for 12 months while working to become fully licensed – in turn ensuring that the expiration of their licenses doesn’t negatively impact residential tenants and landlords.

Finally, the bill will amend the Retail Leases Act 1994 to extend the Act to cover Western Sydney International Airport, ensuring that this new airport has the same retail provisions as the existing Sydney Kingsford-Smith Airport.

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 and the Government. See all members’ contributions in the Hansard record.

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

PASSED: High Risk Offenders Legislation Amendment Bill 2023

The High Risk Offenders Legislation Amendment Bill 2023 passed the Council on Tuesday, after having passed the Legislative Assembly in late 2023. The bill amends the Crimes (High Risk Offenders) Act 2006 and the Terrorism (High Risk Offenders) Act 2017, including in relation to the crime of strangulation and to the post-sentence detention or supervision of high-risk, violent and sexual offenders.

With relation to strangulation, the bill incorporates the serious strangulation offence into the definitions of “serious sex offence” and “offence of a sexual nature” into the Crimes (High Risk Offenders) Act 2016. In his second reading speech on behalf of the Hon Daniel Mookhey, the Hon Mark Buttigieg explained that the intention of this change is so that people who have been sentenced in relation to these offences can be eligible for post-sentence detention and supervision. The bill also clarifies that a Federal recognizance release order, a non-custody based sentence dependent on ‘good behaviour’, is to be taken as part of the sentence for the purposes of the Act.

Meanwhile, the bill makes changes to both the Crimes and Terrorism (High Risk Offenders) Acts to address technical operational and legal matters, and provide consistency, in relation to extended supervision and continuing detention orders.

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 the Hansard record here and continued here.

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

A special event – Meeting of both Houses to hear from Governor of Tokyo

After the receipt of a message from the Legislative Assembly earlier in the day, the House took a later break on Tuesday afternoon so members could attend a joint meeting to welcome Her Excellency Ms Yuriko Koike, Governor of Tokyo.

New South Wales and Tokyo have a Sister State Agreement and this year marks the 40th anniversary of the relationship. In 1984, former Premier Neville Wran first signed the agreement between the two states to formalise trade and economic ties.

Members of both Houses gathered in the Legislative Assembly chamber and listened to an address by the Governor and a response by the Premier, the Leader of the Nationals and President of the Legislative Council, the Hon Ben Franklin. This was a unique, though not unprecedented, occurrence as the Council rarely visits the Assembly chamber, with most joint meetings taking the form of a ‘joint sitting’ which is convened in the Council chamber.  Other past examples including joint meetings to hear addresses from the President of Ireland in 1998, and a former Governor of Tokyo in 1989.

In Committees

Among the day’s business, Ms Sue Higginson (The Greens) notified the House that the Planning and Environment Committee has expanded its terms of reference for its inquiry into the state’s planning system, to incorporate listening to and learning from Aboriginal voices and experiences. Full details of the inquiry and the revised terms of reference can be found on the inquiry webpage.

Also in committees, Ms Abigail Boyd (The Greens), informed the House that on 6 December 2023, the Education Committee established a new inquiry into children and young people with disability in New South Wales educational settings. Find full details of the inquiry here. Submissions remain open until 29 February 2024.

The House also engaged in a ‘take note’ debate on the Health Committee report Current and potential impacts of gold, silver, lead and zinc mining on human health, land, air and water quality in New South Wales, which was tabled in December 2023. Read the full debate in Hansard.

In addition to this, the following committee reports were tabled:

Documents tabled and reported in the House

Among the documents tabled and reported on Tuesday were:

 A full list of other reports received and tabled can be found in the Tabled Papers Database.

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