After three huge weeks of 2023/24 additional Budget Estimates hearings, the Legislative Council was back for its second sitting week of 2024. Tuesday saw the House pass two bills, one related to the management of hazardous chemicals and the other to local government electoral expenditure caps. Read on for more…
PASSED: Environmental Legislation Amendment (Hazardous Chemicals) Bill 2024
The Environmental Legislation Amendment (Hazardous Chemicals) Bill 2024 was debated in the House on Tuesday. The Government bill, which had been introduced into the House in the previous sitting week, would amend the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 to implement national reforms to the management of certain chemicals.
Read more about the bill in our blog from when the bill was introduced.
Contributions to the second reading debate were made by members of the Opposition and The Greens. Read the full debate in the Hansard record.
Both the second and third readings of the bill were agreed to on the voices, with the bill then sent to the Assembly for concurrence.
PASSED: Electoral Funding Amendment (Local Government Electoral Expenditure Cap) Bill 2024
Also passing the Legislative Council on Tuesday was the Electoral Funding Amendment (Local Government Electoral Expenditure Cap) Bill 2024. The bill would amend the Electoral Funding Act 2018 relating to capped local government expenditure periods and local government election campaign electoral expenditure caps.
During the second reading debate, contributions were made by members of the Opposition and the Government. Read the full debate in the Hansard record.
The second and third readings of the bill were agreed to on the voices and the bill was then sent to the Legislative Assembly for concurrence.
General Motions
The following motions were agreed to without debate, during the morning’s formal business:
- 80th Anniversary of the Liberal Party of Australia, moved by the Hon Natasha Maclaren-Jones (Liberal)
- Subcontinent Community Language Schools Conference 2023, moved by the Hon Mark Buttigieg (Labor)
- Dr Robin Fitzsimmons AM, moved by the Hon Chris Rath
- Blessing of the Waters Ceremony and Epiphany Greek Festival, also moved by Mr Rath
Committees
One new Upper House inquiry was reported in the chamber on Tuesday. Ms Sue Higginson (The Greens) as chair of the Planning and Environment Committee, informed the House that the committee has adopted an inquiry into the Transport oriented Development Program (with the terms of reference available in Hansard). Find out more about the inquiry, including about submissions and hearings, on the inquiry webpage.
Also in committees, Ms Cate Faehrrman (The Greens) notified the House that the Transport and the Arts Committee has extended its reporting date for its inquiry into the current and future public transport needs in Western Sydney to 30 April 2024. Full details of the inquiry can be seen on our website.
During time allocated to committee debate, the House continued 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:
- Pressures on heavy vehicle drivers and their impact in New South Wales, a report of the Transport and the Arts Committee, February 2024
- Consideration of disputed claim of privilege as referred by the Clerk under standing orders 54, a report of the Privileges Committee, March 2024
- Jury Amendment Bill, a report of the Justice and Communities Committee, March 2024. As a result of the committee reporting, the Jury Amendment Bill 2023 will now be debated in a future sitting of the House. Read more in our blog from when the bill was introduced.
Documents tabled and reported in the House
Among the documents tabled and reported on Tuesday were:
- Inspection of the Metropolitan Remand and Reception Centre, a February 2024 report of the Inspector of Custodial Services
- Inspection of Mannus Correctional Centre and Glen Innes Correctional Centre 2022, a February 2024 report of the Inspector of Custodial Services
- Inspection of John Moroney Correctional Centre 2023, a March 2024 report of the Inspector of Custodial Services
- A map of automated decision-making in the NSW Public Sector, a March 2024 report of the NSW Ombudsman
- Report of the Independent Complaints Officer of the NSW Parliament to the Legislative Council Privileges Committee and Legislative Assembly Parliamentary Privileges and Ethics Committee for the period 1 December 2023 to 29 February 2024, a March 2024 report
A full list of other reports received and tabled can be found in the Tabled Papers Database.