For the sitting period
3—12 October
2000
Unanswered questions on notice
The procedure in standing order 74 whereby a senator may ask for
an explanation of failure to answer within 30 days a question on
notice and then debate the explanation was again employed to draw
attention to the government’s tardiness in answering
questions. On 3 October an explanation was sought in relation
to two questions. On the following day a list of 127 unanswered
questions was presented, and on 9 October a list of 92 was referred
to. Ministers were put on notice that poor performance in answering
questions would not go unheeded.
Orders for production of documents
The orders for documents relating to SES ratings of schools (see
Bulletin No. 146, pp 1-2) was finally answered by the production of
the relevant information on 3 October. There ensued a vigorous
debate in the Senate and in the media about the treatment of
different categories of schools under the government scheme for
allocating grants, thereby demonstrating again that the
Senate’s ability to require documents may have a significant
effect on public debate.
An order passed on 4 October contained a long list of required
documents relating to tax administration. The order also gave the
government an unusually long time to respond: 19 sitting days,
which should get to early December and near the end of this
year’s sittings.
An order also passed on 4 October relating to a tidal energy
project produced a government refusal to respond on the following
day, on the now familiar ground of commercial confidentiality. This
matter remained unresolved at the end of the period.
A further order on 5 October for more information about the
regulation of heavy trucks resulted from a notice which had been on
the Notice Paper for some time and which contained a deadline
already passed. In this circumstance, the order is interpreted as
requiring the documents on the next day of sitting. On the
following sitting day the government made a statement indicating
that more time was required to respond to the order, and that some
documents might be withheld on various grounds. This matter also
remains unresolved.
Legislation: bills amended, rejected
The Interactive Gambling (Moratorium) Bill 2000, which was to
provide a temporary prohibition on Internet gambling, was rejected
at the third reading by equally divided votes, 33 to 33, on 9
October. Some of the Democrats voted against the bill after their
amendments were not accepted in committee, and the Opposition
opposed the bill outright.
Another bill, rejected on 11 October, was one of a package
relating to migration. The rejected bill was to alter the visa
application charge, but the parts of the accompanying bill relating
to the charge were struck out by way of amendment, together with
other parts of the bill, leaving only a small part of the bill to
pass. The government eventually accepted this treatment of the
legislation.
The renewable energy package of bills, after extensive
consideration, was finally passed on 9 October with many
amendments. The government in the House disagreed with some of the
amendments, and the Senate commenced consideration of the
disagreement, but the matter was not concluded.
A package of electoral bills, passed on 12 October and relating
to the registration of political parties, was the occasion of
extensive multi-party deliberation and amendment in committee.
Delegated legislation
A senator withdrew a disallowance motion on the last day for
resolving the motion on 11 October, after receiving government
undertakings that the instruments in question would be amended.
Normally this process of withdrawing disallowance notices after
receipt of ministerial undertakings occurs with the Regulations and
Ordinances Committee. On this occasion the notice of motion had to
be withdrawn by leave, because there was not time to give notice of
intention to withdraw under standing under 78. To conform with the
intention of the standing order, the Chair pointed out that the
notice could not be withdrawn without opportunity for any other
senator to take over the notice, so that any senator wishing to
proceed with the disallowance motion would not be deprived of the
ability to do so.
The Regulations and Ordinances Committee presented its annual
report on 12 October. The Chair’s statement accompanying the
report wryly observed that the committee aimed to put itself out of
business by eliminating all faults in delegated legislation, but
the report disclosed a need for increased activity by the committee
in the period covered.
Parliamentary privilege: search warrants
It was reported on 3 October that documents seized in the
premises of Senator Crane under search warrant and the subject of a
claim of parliamentary privilege had been delivered to the Senate
in accordance with the judgment of French J of the Federal Court
(see Bulletin No. 140, p. 3), following the failure of an appeal
against one aspect of the judgment. The Senate must now decide how
to determine whether any of the documents are protected from
seizure under search warrant by parliamentary privilege, French J
having determined that that question is not justiciable and is for
the Senate to determine. The Chair of the Privileges Committee,
Senator Ray, in a statement noting the receipt of the documents,
asked that the President recommend in consultation with senior
senators and the Clerk a method for making the decision.
Committee reports: aircraft safety
The concern of the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport
Committee with aircraft safety was indicated by the presentation of
two unusual reports. A report presented on 11 October recommended
that the Director of Public Prosecutions consider whether the
principals of a regional airline had deliberately ignored air
safety regulations, and that the conduct of a named officer in the
Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) be considered. The Senate
was later told that the CASA board had accepted all of the
recommendations of the committee 24 hours after the report was
presented. A report presented on 12 October analysed an
unsolved mystery about a particular kind of aircraft. The matters
within the charter of this committee frequently involve it in very
practical issues.
Senate Daily Summary
The Senate Daily Summary provides more detailed information on Senate proceedings, including progress of legislation, committee reports and other documents tabled and major actions by the Senate. Like this bulletin, Senate Daily Summary may be reached through the Senate home page at www.senate.gov.au.
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