The Legislative Council was back from its winter break on Tuesday with a busy day of Government business. The House heard about the recent Regional Roadshows that took place as part of the Bicentenary of the Legislative Council in a statement by the President and was notified of the numerous committee and statutory reports that were tabled over the break. Two bills were also passed: a statute law bill dealing with ‘miscellaneous provisions’ and a bill amending the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. Read on for more…

STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT – BICENTENARY REGIONAL ROADSHOWS

The sitting day began with a statement by the President about the recent Bicentenary Regional Roadshows across regional New South Wales. Since the beginning of April, the Legislative Council has travelled to Lismore, Port Macquarie, Bathurst, Batemans Bay, Armidale and Wagga Wagga taking the work of the Parliament to these regional communities. A public speaking competition was hosted for high school students, and youth forums were attended by student leaders from schools across each region. In addition, the roadshows also included community workshops seminars for and public servants, engaging regional communities in the themes of democracy, representation and parliamentary processes. Read the President’s statement in full in the Hansard record.

Take a look at a gallery of images from across these six roadshows below.

If you’d like to take part in our Bicentenary celebrations, be sure to register for Open House, a day of festivities to mark the Bicentenary of the NSW Legislative Council (the Upper House)

​— 200 years to the day of the Council’s first ever meeting. Find out more and register to attend.

PASSED: STATUTE LAW (MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS) BILL 2024

The Statute Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024 passed the Legislative Council on Tuesday after having been introduced in the House in the previous sitting period. Statute law bills dealing with ‘miscellaneous provisions’ such as this one are used to make a suite of minor amendments across a large number of Acts at the same time. Read more about the bill in our previous blog.

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

When the House resolved into committee of the whole…

  • Two amendments were moved by the Hon John Graham on behalf of the Government which sought to omit the parts of the bill which other members have voiced their opposition to, these relate to the Environmental Trust Act 1988 and the Geographical Names Act 1966. A third amendment on this sheet was not moved as it is addressed in a further amendment moved by the Animal Justice Party. These amendments were agreed to on the voices.
  • Two amendments were moved by the Hon Emma Hurst on behalf of the Animal Justice Party which sought to ensure that the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Regulation 2012 would remain in force until 1 February 2025 instead of 1 September 2025, giving the Government six months to update these regulations instead of 12. This amendment was agreed to on the voices.
  • One amendment was moved by Ms Abigail Boyd on behalf of The Greens which sought to remove the automatic provision in the Interpretation Act 1987 to be moved from statutory rule to another Act or statutory rule. This amendment was agreed to on the voices.

Read the full committee of the whole proceedings in the Hansard record.

The third reading of the bill was agreed to on the voices and the bill, as amended, was forwarded to the Legislative Assembly for concurrence.

PASSED: Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Amendment (Transparency and Fit and Proper Persons) Bill 2024

Also passing the Legislative Council on Tuesday was the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Amendment (Transparency and Fit and Proper Persons) Bill 2024. This bill amends the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (POCTAA) 1979 to improve transparency in animal welfare enforcement activities and to extend the circumstances by which certain people convicted of animal cruelty offences can be prevented from keeping and breeding companion animals. Read more about the bill in our previous blog.

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

When the House resolved into committee of the whole…

  • Two amendments were moved by the Hon Tara Moriarty on behalf of the Government which sought to replace the provisions relating to the Ombudsman Regulation with alternative provisions in the Ombudsman Act 1974. These amendments were agreed to on the voices.
  • One amendment was moved by the Hon Emma Hurst on behalf of the Animal Justice Party which sought to change the circumstances by which the Court may make an order against a person in relation to an animal cruelty offence. It changes these circumstances to when a person is “found guilty” instead of being “convicted”. These amendments were agreed to on the voices.
  • Two amendments were moved by Ms Abigail Boyd on behalf of The Greens which similarly sought to change “convicted” to “found guilty” in section 31 of the bill related the Court making further orders against a person, and change the way information is collected, used and disclosed across agencies. These amendments were agreed to on the voices.

Read the full 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.

IN COMMITTEES 

The establishment of three new Legislative Council inquiries was reported in the House on Tuesday, including a Public Accountability and Works Committee inquiry into Western Sydney Science Park and Aerotropolis developments, a Regional NSW Committee inquiry into the impact of the phase-out of Australian live sheep exports by sea on New South Wales and inquiry into the impact of Renewable Energy Zones (REZs) on rural and regional communities and industries in New South Wales. Keep an eye on our website for more details about submissions and hearing dates for these new inquiries.

The extension of the reporting date for four inquiries was also reported in the House on Tuesday:

During the day’s proceedings, the receipt of a number of committee reports was reported in the House: 

The House also heard a ‘take note’ debate on Current and future public transport needs in Western Sydney, a report of Portfolio Committee No. 6 – Transport and the Arts dated April 2024.

GENERAL MOTIONS 

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

DOCUMENTS TABLED AND REPORTED IN THE HOUSE 

Among the documents tabled and reported in the House on Tuesday were: 

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

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