Statute Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008

Debate resumed from 5 June 2008.Debate resumed from 5 June 2008.

Mr GREG SMITH (Epping) [10.07 a.m.]: The Statute Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008 repeals certain Acts and instruments and provisions of Acts and amends certain other Acts and instruments in various respects for the purpose of effecting statute law revision. I am happy to state that the Opposition will not oppose the legislation, nor will I go through the many bills that are amended in a minor way. I will nevertheless make a few observations. The Statute Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008 is intended to effect minor and non-controversial amendments to various Acts of the New South Wales Parliament. Schedule 1 makes minor amendments to a number of Acts and regulations. Schedule 2 amends certain Acts and instruments for the purpose of effecting statute law revision. Schedule 3 contains statute law revision amendments that are consequential upon the enactment of the Legal Profession Act 2004. Schedule 4 repeals a number of Acts and statutory instruments and provisions of Acts and statutory instruments, regulations and provisions of Acts that contain no substantive provisions but need to be retained, and that merely effect amendments to other legislation and that no longer have any practical utility. Schedule 5 has savings, transitional and other general provisions of a more general effect than those set out in schedule 1. Among the various Acts amended, there is a minor amendment to the World Youth Day Act 2006 to rectify a typographical error. In respect of that Act and the period it deals with, I must say that I look forward to World Youth Day.

There has been some criticism in the media that I believe is unfounded. World Youth Day will provide a great opportunity for Sydney, this State, this nation, and the youth of the world to have in their presence a great spiritual leader, Pope Benedict XVI. It is great for this country, and it is great to do something good. Very often we hear of young people breaking the law or doing silly things such as graffitiing everywhere, causing mayhem and trouble. But not often do we hear of a spiritual leader bringing together good youth—or youth who want to be good—in their hundreds of thousands, to celebrate youth and their beliefs, and to try to build a better world than the one we have at the moment. We should be extremely thankful to have such an opportunity to welcome the Holy Father.

I recall two previous Popes coming to this country. I recall attending the mass celebrated by Pope Paul VI at Randwick Racecourse when I was somewhat younger than I am now, and I also recall attending two masses celebrated by Pope John Paul II, or Pope John Paul the Great as they call him. Indeed, Pope John Paul II established World Youth Day. Of all human beings in this world, Pope John Paul II did more to bring down the wall of communism, and we must be thankful for that. With the assistance of Almighty God, he gave strength to the Solidarity group in Poland and it was his solidarity with that group that brought down communism in Europe. For that we must be eternally grateful.

It is pleasing that the Government refers to World Youth Day in its Statute Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill. I note that Minister Burney, who is at the table, is wearing orange. I would like to see her wear green as well; otherwise it is the biggest mix-up the world has ever seen—my father he was orange and my mother she was green. The Feast of St Thomas More will be celebrated this Sunday, 22 June. Today members of this House and of the other place will meet in the Speaker's Dining Room, to attend a function hosted across the board by Mr Aquilina, Mr Hartcher, the Hon. Greg Donnelly, various other members, and me, to celebrate the Feast of St Thomas More. It is wonderful that we have in this Parliament a magnificent bronze statue of St Thomas More, which will be moved to a better position in the Speaker's Garden when security arrangements for the Parliament have been improved. I commend the bill to the House.

Mr JOHN AQUILINA (Riverstone—Leader of the House) [10.12 a.m.], in reply: I thank the member for Epping for his contribution to debate on the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill. The bill, which is similar to that introduced almost every session of the Parliament, is monumental legislation that does the spring cleaning for all of us by tidying up legislation. I commend the member for his comments on World Youth Day and note his strong commitment to the event. I, and indeed all members of the Government, very much look forward to World Youth Day and its great impact not only on Australia but also on the world. Once again we will have an opportunity to display Sydney at its best, and to display Australia at its best, particularly before the youth of the world, and for Sydney to act as the gathering place for world youth. I know that, given the hospitality of Australians, the volunteers who will work during the event and everyone else involved in it will provide a tremendous occasion that will go down in memory, as the Sydney 2000 Olympics did, as one of the great world events Australia has hosted.

I make one specific reference in reply to the amendments to the State Records Act 1998. I had the pleasure of being a member of the State Records Board for a period of approximately four years. Given that I have a great love for the history of this State and country and am committed to the preservation of our historical records, I really enjoyed my period on the State Records Board and wish to commend the people who work there. The preservation of historical records is becoming an important activity for New South Wales. There is an increasing interest in historical matters, and also in genealogy as people seek to research not only their family history but also places, documents and legislation. One of the areas of concern to a lot of people was their capacity to be able to reproduce some of the historical records contained by the State Records Authority.

Proposed section 36A of the State Records Act 1998 provides the State Records Authority, otherwise known as State Records, with the statutory power to enter into agreements with third parties to copy and publish State archives and provide certainty for the existing regional access arrangements to State archives. This is an important provision. It is important not only that we preserve the archives and historical artefacts that are the basic building blocks of our nation but also that we allow people to obtain access to those records and items whenever possible. I emphasise that the access arrangements outlined in proposed section 36A will only apply to State archives that are already open to public access.

State Records does not currently have the resources to provide public access to State archives via all possible access points, including large-scale online access to digitised copies of State archives. The arrangements for third parties will now allow State archives to be digitised and published online, including on a user-pays basis. This not only will provide for public access to the records but also will ensure that such access is provided economically and does not incur further cost for the State. The arrangements will not affect the free access services to State archives provided by State Records, or prevent future digitisation of State archives by State Records.

The Minister at the table, Minister Burney, who is the first indigenous person to have been elected to this Chamber, has reminded me that this has been critical for members of the stolen generation in tracing their families. State Records has custody of all Aboriginal Welfare Board records. This is a very important point. I recall that during my time on the State Records Board not only did we place great store in the availability of records on the stolen generation, and on indigenous communities generally, but we also went to great lengths to recover a lot of items that had been dispersed. I recall the emotional scenes when we were able to recover, for example, hair particles and bones from the British Museum and have the items brought back to New South Wales and reposited with the State archives. It was essential that these important items be brought back to New South Wales so they could then be appropriately preserved in accordance with the rights, traditions, customs and culture of our indigenous communities.

State Records provides regional access to State archives through community access points, which include universities, public libraries and local historical societies. Having been the patron of the Blacktown and District Historical Society for more than 30 years, I know how much these items are valued by our historical communities. Proposed section 36A of the Act will also allow community access points to continue to copy or publish State archives and provide the public with access to copies of State archives. For these reasons, and particularly given my interest in the State Records Board and matters historical, as well as noting the importance of the State Records Board to the preservation of indigenous records, I have much pleasure in commending the bill to the House. Once again I thank the member for Epping for his contribution to the debate.

Bill agreed to in principle.

Consideration in detail requested by Mr John Aquilina.


Clauses 1 to 7 agreed to.

Mr JOHN AQUILINA (Riverstone—Leader of the House) [10.20 a.m.]: I move:

Page 27, schedule 1. Insert after line 13:

1.21 Payroll Tax Act 2007 No 21

Schedule 1 Calculation of payroll tax liability for financial year commencing 1 July 2007 and subsequent financial years

Omit "2006" from the definition of B in clause IA (2).

Insert instead "2007".

CommencementCommencement
The amendment to the Payroll Tax Act 2007 commences or is taken to have commenced on 1 July 2008.

Explanatory noteExplanatory note
The proposed amendment to the Payroll Tax Act 2007 corrects a reference to the base year to be used in the indexation of the payroll tax threshold amount.

The amendment to the Payroll Tax Act 2007 has been included in the State Revenue Amendment (Budget) Bill 2008 now before the Legislative Council. However, it has become apparent that the amendment does not work as intended. As members would be aware, the Government's view is that it would not be appropriate, given the constitutional arrangements in the State, for a provision of a budget bill to be amended by the Legislative Council. Accordingly, I propose the amendment through the Statute Law Bill to ensure that the correct base year can be used for the purpose of the annual indexation of the payroll tax threshold.

This is a standard statutory matter. It is a way of tidying up an arrangement that had been overlooked and it will have no import except that it not being appropriate to introduce tax matters into the Legislative Council, we will now be able to deal with the matter by way of this amendment to the Statute Law Bill in the Legislative Assembly. I commend the amendment to the House.

Mr GREG SMITH (Epping) [10.22 a.m.]: It is bewildering how such an important Act—the Payroll Tax Act—should be bungled the way it has been. Why the Act has to be corrected I do not really know. I do not know how the mistake crept in there. Have people calculated their payroll tax based on a false assumption? I do not know. I do not know how many accountancy fees have been wasted in recalculating the payroll tax. The Government made a great fuss about gradual reductions in the payroll tax and it cannot even get the legislation right.

Mr DARYL MAGUIRE (Wagga Wagga) [10.22 a.m.]: Time and time again legislation is introduced in this place that contains errors that the Government has found before the legislation has been transmitted to the other place and the Government has had to amend it in this House. I think it reflects the sloppiness of the Ministers in charge of the carriage of the legislation. Ministers have a responsibility to ensure that when legislation comes before this place it has the correct effect. As the Leader of the House has indicated, the legislation that went to the upper House for review certainly had a different effect. I point to how these kinds of matters can affect people. Just recently, in another place, amendments were made to family tax benefits. But as a result—and I am reading from today's Daily Telegraph—nurses, teachers and charity workers will have their family tax benefits slashed by up to $75 a week in July—

Ms Linda Burney: Because the Howard Government made a mistake.

Mr DARYL MAGUIRE: —even though the Government yesterday pledged to overturn the cuts. The problem is that unless the Government moves quickly to fix this legislation it will run out of time: it needs to be done before 1 July. Yes, the Howard Government did introduce some legislative changes, but the Rudd Government has introduced its own laws that give effect to the changes. I am not making apologies for anyone. I am saying that when legislation comes before this place and it is deficient and it is passed, it creates complications and it has a domino effect.

The fact that we have to deal with legislation that comes back before this place to be amended by the Government is an indication of laziness and lack of due diligence by the Ministers in charge, or perhaps it is because its staff is too busy running around digging up dirt in other places rather than concentrating on delivering quality legislation that will enact laws and ensure that we do not always have to come back into this place to revisit legislation.

This article in the Daily Telegraph indicates that there have been some serious problems in the Federal sphere. If Rudd Government does not act very quickly some of the lowest paid people in our communities are going to suffer because of the amendments to family tax benefits. As I said, I am not apologising for the actions of previous or current governments, but there is an urgency to amend the legislation. A loss in family benefits of up to $75 a week is a lot of money and it will have a severe impact in everyone's electorate. Again, it highlights the need to ensure that people understand that when legislation is introduced and botched, there is a consequence. There is an added consequence that those people who vote for the member for Bathurst and other members in the House today—those people they supposedly represent—

[Interruption]

I do not know whether the member for Bathurst will be on the front bench but, if he is, he needs to ensure that legislation that is brought before this place is dealt with with due diligence.

Mr JOHN AQUILINA (Riverstone—Leader of the House) [10.26 a.m.], in reply: The member for Wagga Wagga has drawn a very long bow in his contribution. I was loath to take a point of order to say that what he was talking about was totally irrelevant to the matter before the House. Nonetheless, he knows how to use this Chamber well and he has made his point—regardless of the fact that it was an irrelevant point concerning this legislation.

The contribution of the member for Epping was predictable. The Legislative Assembly has already debated the budget bills and they are now before the Legislative Council. An error was noted in relation to the year in the Payroll Tax Act and consequently it needs to be amended. As the Legislative Council is unable to amend budget legislation, we are doing it here now. It is as simple as that. Everybody had the opportunity to scrutinise them when the budget bills were before this Chamber and to note that point. I commend the amendment to the House and thank it for its indulgence in this matter.

Question—That the amendment be agreed to—put and resolved in the affirmative.

Amendment agreed to.

Schedule 1 as amended agreed to.

Schedules 2 to 5 agreed to.

Consideration in detail concluded.


Motion by Mr John Aquilina agreed to:

That this bill be now passed.

Bill declared passed and transmitted to the Legislative Council with a message seeking its concurrence in the bill.Bill declared passed and transmitted to the Legislative Council with a message seeking its concurrence in the bill.