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Chapter 6 - Senators
Pecuniary interests
Procedures for the registration of
senators’ pecuniary interests are contained in special orders first adopted in
1994. Such procedures had been under consideration since 1983, but had not been
adopted, mainly due to doubts about their effectiveness. They were finally
adopted as part of a “package” of “accountability reforms” announced by the
government following the resignation of a minister over alleged misallocation
of certain cultural and sporting grants (SD, 3/3/1994, pp 1453-4).
A special order of
the Senate requires senators to declare specified interests, of
themselves, and of their partners of which they are aware, which are then
entered in a register, kept by a designated officer of the Senate and open to
public inspection (those relating to partners are confidential). The order originally
obliged senators to declare relevant interests during proceedings in the
Senate. It had been the practice for senators, before the adoption of the
order, to declare any interests in matters before the Senate. The requirement
was abolished in 2003, but senators may still do so. The system for the
registration of interests is supervised by a standing committee, called the Committee of
Senators’ Interests (SO 22A). The Senate’s
order declares that failure to comply with the order is a serious contempt of
the Senate. Another order,
adopted on 26 August 1997, requires senators to register gifts presented to them
in their official capacity. (See also Chapter 16, Committees, under Senators’
Interests Committee.)
Historically, the formal requirements for registration of interests can
be seen as the long term result of two significant inquiries. A Joint Committee of
Pecuniary Interests of Members of Parliament was appointed in 1974 and reported
in September 1975 (PP 182/1975). The committee considered whether
arrangements should be made for the declaration of interests of members of
Parliament and, if so, whether a register of interests should be compiled and
what it should contain. The committee examined the concept of a code of conduct
and the arguments for and against a formal register of interests and concluded
that an appropriate balance could be achieved between the flexible guidance of
the former and the rigid requirements of the latter by instituting a system of
declaration of interests in which it was compulsory to declare certain
interests while declaration of others was discretionary.
The second inquiry
was by the non-parliamentary Committee of Inquiry Concerning Public Duty and
Private Interest, chaired by the Chief Justice of the Federal Court of
Australia, Nigel Bowen, and established in 1978. The committee suggested a set
of principles providing for the avoidance or resolution of conflicts of
interest and applicable to various categories of persons holding public office
or playing a role in public life. The committee’s recommendations in relation
to ministers were adopted, including confidential disclosure of pecuniary interests.
A motion proposing a system for the registration of senators’ interests
was referred to the Standing Orders
Committee in October 1983 (20/10/1983, J.412-3). After lengthy consideration of and consultation
on the issue, the Standing Orders Committee reported in May 1986 that there was
a fundamental disagreement amongst its members about the effectiveness of the
proposed register and the soundness of the proposals in the resolution relating
to registration and declaration of interests (PP 435/1986). The committee
considered that the question should be determined by the Senate.
Notice of a motion relating to the registration and declaration of
senators’ interests and the establishment of a Committee of
Senators’ Interests was given on 20 November 1986 (J.1429) and debated on
17 March 1987 (J.1680-3) but was unresolved before the 1987 double dissolution.
Although it appears that the re-elected government intended to re-introduce the
motion, this did not occur until well into the following Parliament (30/4/1992, J.2228). When
this motion was debated in May 1992, the same fundamental disagreements about
the effectiveness of the register were evident and debate was adjourned (4/5/1992, J.2240). Similar
notices were again given shortly after the commencement of the 37th Parliament
(18/5/1993, J.159) and again
the Opposition claimed that the proposed system would be ineffective (SD,
19/5/1993, pp 800-8; 25/5/1993, p. 1193). Consideration of the matter was
postponed until the Budget sittings later that year but, in the meantime,
government senators and Senator Chamarette (Greens, WA) tabled declarations of their interests on 25 May 1993 (J.247, 248). Motions
were debated on 19 and 30 August 1993 but were not dealt with conclusively until 17 March 1994 when the Committee
of Senators’ Interests was appointed. The Register of Interests, containing all
senators’ declarations, together with those of senior departmental officers,
was tabled in the Senate on 9 June 1994 in accordance with the terms of the resolution of
17 March requiring this action within 14 sitting days.
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