In the House – Thursday 9 May 2024

Government legislation was the focus of House business on Thursday, with three bills introduced and one, regarding local government de-amalgamation, passing the Legislative Council. The House also debated a matter of public importance about public access to Mount Warning and heard the Minister for Roads make a statement about road safety. Read on for more…

MATTER OF PUBLIC IMPORTANCE – PUBLIC ACCESS TO MOUNT WARNING

Early on Thursday, on the motion of the Hon John Ruddick (Libertarian Party), the House agreed to debate “public access to Mount Warning” as a matter of public importance.

‘Matters of public importance’ allow members to debate an issue, without the requirement for a vote on the matter. This means that at the conclusion of the debate, the motion simply lapses.   

Contributions to the debate were made by members of the Government and The Greens. Read all member contributions in full in the Hansard record.

MINISTERIAL STATEMENT ON ROAD SAFETY

The Hon John Graham (Labor), in his capacity as Minister for Roads, made a ministerial statement relating to road safety. The full details of his statement can be found in the Hansard record. The Hon Natalie Ward (Liberal), Shadow Minister for Transport and Roads, spoke in reply on behalf of the Opposition.

INTRODUCED: Ombudsman and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024

The Ombudsman and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024 was introduced in the Council on Thursday. This bill seeks to make miscellaneous amendments to the Ombudsman Act 1974 and the Community Services (Complaints, Reviews and Monitoring) Act 1993, and would also repeal the Ombudsman Regulation 2016.

In his second reading speech, Mr Graham explained that the bill proposes to repeal section 31Z of the Ombudsman Act, related to the disclosure of identifying information. He explained that the Ombudsman’s Office have advised that this provision has given rise to “practical impediments” in how they perform their role, with the complaint handling and resolution process fundamentally requiring parties to be made aware of each other’s identities. He also explained that the bill would insert a duty for public authorities to cooperate and assist the Ombudsman in the exercise of their functions, reinforcing this requirement and aiming to facilitate the timely and effective resolution of complaints. The bill also makes other miscellaneous amendments, including to the definition of ‘Aboriginal programs’. Read more about the bill in Mr Graham‘s second reading speech.

Following Mr Graham’s second reading speech, debate on the bill was adjourned to a future sitting of the House.

INTRODUCED: EMERGENCY SERVICES LEVY AMENDMENT (LAND CLASSIFICATION) BILL 2024

Also in the Council on Thursday, the Emergency Services Levy Amendment (Land Classification) Bill 2024 was introduced by Treasurer the Hon Daniel Mookhey (Labor). This bill seeks to amend the Emergency Services Levy Act 2017 to provide for the preliminary classification of land for the purposes of evaluating and implementing reforms to the way in which emergency services are funded.

Currently, emergency services agencies in NSW are primarily funded via an emergency services levy imposed on the insurance industry. The Government seeks to reform how emergency services are funded, and to do this, is devising a new funding system. This bill would require local councils to perform a preliminary classification of all parcels of land in their area, and to identify if the land is owned by a person belonging to a category of person identified by the Treasurer.

In his second reading speech, Mr Mookhey explained that this new process of land classification seeks to provide the Government with more data when designing a new emergency services levy. Currently, data is available on existing available land classifications available include those used for planning purposes or those used for council rates. Read more about the bill in Mr Mookhey’s second reading speech.

Following the minister’s second reading contribution, according to standing order debate on the bill was adjourned for five calendar days.

INTRODUCED: Emergency Services Levy Insurance Monitor Bill 2024

The Emergency Services Levy Insurance Monitor Bill 2024 was also introduced in the Legislative Council by Treasurer the Hon Daniel Mookhey (Labor). This bill seeks to appoint the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) as the Emergency Services Levy Insurance Monitor.

As with the previous bill, this bill relates to the Government’s plan to reform how emergency services are funded in NSW. As the existing model of funding emergency services through an emergency services levy on insurance policies is intended to be set aside, an oversight body is proposed to ensure that insurers pass any savings gained from the removal of the emergency services levy onto consumers.

As part of IPART’s new Monitor functions, the Monitor will oversee regulated contacts of insurance and provide a quarterly report to the Minister and the Treasurer. The Monitor will have responsibility for investigating insurance overcharging and will also have powers to investigate and enforce compliance with the proposed Act.

In his second reading speech, Mr Mookhey explained that the Monitor will also determine an insurance premium baseline and will have the power to collect data from the insurance industry. Read Mr Mookhey’s second reading speech in full in the Hansard record.

With an introduction of the bill having been given to the House, debate on the bill was adjourned to a future sitting.

PASSED: Local Government Amendment (De-amalgamations) Bill 2024

The Local Government Amendment (De-amalgamations) Bill 2024 passed the Legislative Council on Thursday, after having passed the Legislative Assembly on a previous sitting day. This bill amends the Local Government Act 1993 to set out the process for the de-amalgamation of amalgamated local government areas.

The bill provides that amalgamated councils can lodge a business case for de-amalgamation with the Minister for Local Government and the Local Government Boundaries Commission. If this business case is approved by the Minister, they can approve the holding of a referendum about the proposal. In the case of a successful referendum, the Minister may recommend to the Governor that proclamations be made to give effect to the de-amalgamation proposal.

In his second reading speech, the Hon Mark Buttigieg, in his capacity as Parliamentary Secretary, explained that the bill seeks to close a loophole in current legislation which prevents local councils from de-amalgamating. The current provisions stop short of allowing the Minister to recommend a proclamation to the Governor to give effect to the de-amalgamation, even if the local council and its constituents agree on de-amalgamation. He also explained that voting in de-amalgamation referendums as set out in the bill would be compulsory for electors on the residential electoral roll and would be administered by the Electoral Commissioner. Read more about the bill in Mr Buttigieg’s second reading speech.

Contributions to the second reading debate were made by members of the Opposition, The Greens and the Government. Read all member contributions in the Hansard record.

When the House resolved into committee of the whole…

• One amendment was moved by Dr Amanda Cohn on behalf of the Greens which sought to remove the Minister’s discretion in making recommendations to the Governor regarding de-amalgamation. This amendment was negatived on division (Ayes: 7/Noes: 30)
• Eleven further amendments were moved by Dr Amanda Cohn on behalf of the Greens which sought to provide a mechanism for one council to secede from a three council merger.  These amendments were negatived on division (Ayes: 7/Noes: 30)

In a procedural quirk, the House divided at the end of committee of the whole, on the question that the bill, as read, be agreed to (Ayes: 30/Noes: 7). This question is moved once all amendments have been dealt with, to ask that the committee agree to adopt the substantive text of the bill, unamended, if no amendments are agreed to, before the committee’s proceedings on the bill are reported to the House. If amendments have been agreed to, the question becomes that the bill, as amended be agreed to. More commonly, when members are not happy with a bill that is not amended as they wish, they divide on a different question: that the bill now be read a third time.

The full committee of the whole proceedings can be read in the Hansard record.

With no amendments made, the bill’s third reading was agreed to on the voices and it was returned to the Legislative Assembly, ready for the Governor’s assent.

General Motions

The following motions were agreed to without debate, during formal business:

• Youth Holocaust Education and Remembrance (Youth HEAR) and Yom HaShoah, moved by the Hon Jacqui Munro (Liberal)
• International Day of Mourning 2024, moved by the Hon Mark Buttigieg (Labor).