At 12.01am on Friday 21 June, the House commenced a new, unscheduled sitting day in order to finish the business it began during the previous day. With a ‘special adjournment’ of the House two hours earlier agreed to, the House met again to pass two bills, one related to residential land lease communities and one related to the management of cemeteries. Read on for more…
CONDUCT OF BUSINESS MOTION
With Thursday night’s ‘special adjournment’ allowing the House to sit again on Friday just after midnight, a ‘conduct of business’ motion was moved by the Hon John Graham (Labor) allowing the day’s usual formalities to be suspended. This meant that the House could immediately deal with the two outstanding bills on the notice paper, the Residential (Land Lease) Communities Amendment Bill 2024 and the Catholic Cemeteries and Crematoria Trust Bill 2024 as a matter of precedence.
PASSED: RESIDENTIAL (LAND LEASE) COMMUNITIES AMENDMENT BILL 2024
The Residential (Land Lease) Communities Amendment Bill 2024 passed the legislative Council early on Friday morning. The bill amends the Residential (Land Lease) Communities Act 2013 to implement various recommendations arising from the statutory review of the Act. A residential land lease community is one in which residents own the home they live in and lease the land on which the home sits from a community operator. Read more about the bill in our previous blog.
With the second reading debate having taken place during the previous sitting day, the second and third readings were agreed to on the voices with the bill then returned to the Legislative Assembly, ready for the Governor’s assent.
PASSED: CATHOLIC CEMETERIES AND CREMATORIA TRUST BILL 2024
The Catholic Cemeteries and Crematoria Trust Bill 2024 passed the Legislative Council on Friday morning, having passed the Legislative Assembly earlier in the sitting week. This bill implements a two public cemetery operator model for the Crown cemeteries sector in the State, with the Catholic Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust (CMCT) and Metropolitan Memorial Parks Land Manager (MMP) managing cemeteries in NSW.
In his second reading speech, the Hon John Graham (Labor) explained that the bill addresses the February 2024 decision of the New South Wales Court of Appeal in Catholic Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust v Attorney General of New South Wales which confirmed CMCT’s status as a charitable organisation and therefore not subject to review by the Attorney-General. The bill sets out that the existing land on which CMCT operates, and any future land they acquire, is Crown land. Existing CMCT land includes cemeteries in Kemps Creek, Macarthur Memorial Park in Varroville, Nepean Gardens Memorial Park in Wallacia and parts of Rookwood Cemetery. The bill appoints the Catholic Cemeteries and Crematoria Limited as the trustee (the CCC Trust), subject to the Charitable Trusts Act 1993. Mr Graham went on to explain that the statutory deadline for the implementation of this change is 1 July 2024 and that if new arrangements are not in place by that date, CMCT’s assets rights and liabilities will vest in CMCT’s corporate manager, the Catholic Cemeteries Board (a privately owned entity controlled by the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney). Read more about the bill in Mr Graham’s second reading speech.
Contributions to the second reading debate were made by members of the Opposition and The Greens. Read the full debate in the Hansard record.
When the House resolved into committee of the whole…
- One amendment was moved by Ms Cate Faehrmann on behalf of The Greens which sought to remove the clause in the bill allowing the CCC Trust to provide funerary services. This amendment was negatived on division (Ayes: 5/Noes: 13)
- One amendment was moved by Ms Cate Faehrmann on behalf of The Greens which sought to narrow the purpose of the CCC Trust, removing matters that are incidental or ancillary to the purpose for which the land is reserved under the Crown Land Management Act 2016. This amendment was negatived on division (Ayes: 4/Noes: 13)
- One amendment was moved by Ms Cate Faehrmann on behalf of The Greens which sought give the Minister ultimate responsibility for distribution of assets, rights and liabilities. This amendment was negatived on division (Ayes: 5/Noes: 13)
- One amendment was moved by Ms Cate Faehrmann on behalf of The Greens which sought to maintain the clause which restricts the InvoCare site at Rookwood Cemetery being used as a crematorium only. This amendment was negatived on the voices.
- One amendment was moved by Ms Cate Faehrmann on behalf of The Greens which sought to insert a statutory review of the Act into the bill, 4 years after the commencement of the Act. This amendment was negatived on division (Ayes: 5/Noes: 13)
- One amendment was moved by the Hon John Graham on behalf of the Government which sought to add a new site at Kemps Creek to the schedule of Crown cemetery lands. This amendment was agreed to on the voices.
Read the committee of the whole proceedings in the Hansard record.
With the third reading agreed to on the voices, the bill as amended was sent on to the Legislative Assembly for concurrence.
The House rose at 1.42 am, following agreement by the House on motion by Mr Graham to have the question to adjourn put without debate.