Legislative Council
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6971 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL Tuesday 8 November 2011 __________ The President (The Hon. Donald Thomas Harwin) took the chair at 2.30 p.m. The President read the Prayers. The PRESIDENT: I acknowledge the Gadigal clan of the Eora nation and its elders and thank them for their custodianship of this land. ASSENT TO BILLS Assent to the following bills reported: Local Government Amendment (Roadside Vehicle Sales) Bill 2011 State Revenue Legislation Amendment Bill 2011 Universities Governing Bodies Bill 2011 Home Building Amendment Bill 2011 Technical and Further Education Commission Amendment (Staff Employment) Bill 2011 Payroll Tax Rebate Scheme (Disability Employment) Bill 2011 National Parks and Wildlife Legislation Amendment (Reservations) Bill 2011 ADMINISTRATION OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE STATE The PRESIDENT: I report the receipt of the following message from Her Excellency the Governor: Office of the Governor Sydney 2000 Marie Bashir GOVERNOR Professor Marie Bashir, Governor of New South Wales, has the honour to inform the Legislative Council that she re-assumed the administration of the Government of the State at 6.10 a.m. on 30 October 2011. 30 October 2011 OMBUDSMAN Report The President tabled, pursuant to the Ombudsman Act 1974, the annual report of the Ombudsman for the year ended 30 June 2011, received out of session and authorised to be made public on 26 October 2011. Ordered to be printed on motion by the Hon. Michael Gallacher. CHILD DEATH REVIEW TEAM Report The President tabled, pursuant to the Commission for Children and Young People Act 1998, the annual report of the New South Wales Child Death Review Team, convened by the Ombudsman, for the year ended 31 December 2010, received out of session and authorised to be made public on 26 October 2011. Ordered to be printed on motion by the Hon. Michael Gallacher. 6972 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 8 November 2011 INDEPENDENT COMMISSION AGAINST CORRUPTION Reports The President tabled, pursuant to the Independent Commission Against Corruption Act 1988, the following reports: 1. Annual report of the Independent Commission Against Corruption for year ended 30 June 2011, received out of session and authorised to be made public on 28 October 2011. 2. Report entitled "Investigation into the Misuse of Access Rights to a Land and Property Management Authority Database", dated November 2011, received out of session and authorised to be made public on 3 November 2011. Ordered to be printed on motion by the Hon. Michael Gallacher. INFORMATION AND PRIVACY COMMISSION Report The President tabled, pursuant to the Government Information (Information Commissioner) Act 2009 and the Annual Reports (Statutory Bodies) Act 1984, the annual report of the Information and Privacy Commission for the year ended 30 June 2011. Ordered to be printed on motion by the Hon. Michael Gallacher. CHILDREN'S GUARDIAN Report The President tabled, pursuant to the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998, the annual report of the Children's Guardian for the year ended 30 June 2011, received out of session and authorised to be made public on 31 October 2011. Ordered to be printed on motion by the Hon. Michael Gallacher. POLICE INTEGRITY COMMISSION Report The President tabled, pursuant to the Police Integrity Commission Act 1996, the annual report of the Police Integrity Commission for the year ended 30 June 2011, including an erratum, received out of session and authorised to be made public on 31 October 2011. Ordered to be printed on motion by the Hon. Michael Gallacher. DOMESTIC VIOLENCE DEATH REVIEW TEAM Report The President tabled, pursuant to the Coroner's Act 2009, the annual report of the Domestic Violence Death Review Team for the year ended 30 June 2011, received out of session and authorised to be made public on 1 November 2011. Ordered to be printed on motion by the Hon. Michael Gallacher. TRUTH IN LABELLING (FREE-RANGE EGGS) BILL 2011 Third Reading Motion by Dr John Kaye agreed to: That this bill be now read a third time. Bill read a third time and transmitted to the Legislative Assembly with a message seeking its concurrence in the bill. 8 November 2011 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 6973 TABLED PAPERS NOT ORDERED TO BE PRINTED The Hon. Duncan Gay tabled, pursuant to Standing Order 59, a list of all papers tabled in the previous month and not ordered to be printed. LEGISLATION REVIEW COMMITTEE Report The Hon. Dr Peter Phelps, on behalf of the Chair, tabled the report entitled "Legislation Review Digest 7/55", dated 8 November 2011. Ordered to be printed on motion by the Hon. Dr Peter Phelps. AUDITOR-GENERAL'S REPORTS The Clerk announced the receipt, pursuant to the Public Finance and Audit Act 1983, of the following Auditor-General's reports: 1. Financial Audit Report, Volume Three 2011, dated October 2011, received and authorised to be printed on 31 October 2011. 2. Financial Audit Report, Volume Four 2011, entitled "Focusing on Electricity", dated November 2011, received and authorised to be printed on 2 November 2011. 3. Special report entitled "Solar Bonus Scheme", dated November 2011, received and authorised to be printed on 7 November 2011, and 4. Performance Audit report of the Auditor-General entitled "Responding to Domestic and Family Violence: Department of Family and Community Services, Department of Attorney General and Justice, Ministry of Health, NSW Police Force", dated November 2011, received and authorised to be printed this day. GENERAL PURPOSE STANDING COMMITTEE NO. 1 Government Response to Report The Clerk announced the receipt, pursuant to standing order, of the Government's response to Report No. 36, entitled "The Gentrader Transactions", tabled 23 February 2011, received out of session and authorised to be printed on 27 October 2011. BUDGET FINANCES 2011-2012 Production of Documents: Return to Order The Clerk tabled, pursuant to resolution of the House of 9 September 2011, an additional document relating to the budget finances 2011-2012 received on 31 October 2011 from the New South Wales Treasury. PETITIONS Religious Education and School Ethics Classes Petition opposing the philosophical ethics course currently on offer in public schools and requesting that the House support the Education Amendment (Ethics Classes Repeal) Bill 2011 and the cancellation of the ethics course, received from Reverend the Hon. Fred Nile. Coal Seam Gas Operations Petition requesting that the House put communities and the environment ahead of the profits of gas companies, support a moratorium on coal seam gas exploration and extraction activities, and support an independent investigation into the environmental, social and economic consequences of coal seam gas activities, received from the Hon. Jeremy Buckingham. 6974 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 8 November 2011 Religious Discrimination Petition supporting the proposition that the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 be amended to include religion as a grounds of discrimination, and requesting that the House support the amendment to the Act to make it unlawful to discriminate on the grounds of religious belief or absence of religious belief, received from the Hon. Shaoquett Moselmane. DEATH OF THE HONOURABLE ELAINE BLANCHE NILE, A FORMER MEMBER OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL The Hon. MICHAEL GALLACHER (Minister for Police and Emergency Services, Minister for the Hunter, and Vice-President of the Executive Council) [2.58 p.m.]: I move: 1. That this House express and place on record its deep regret in the loss sustained to the State by the death on 17 October 2011 of the Hon. Elaine Blanche Nile, a former member of this House, and 2. That this resolution be communicated by the President to Reverend the Hon. Fred Nile and his family. On behalf of the Government, I offer our condolences on the passing of the Hon. Elaine Nile, MLC, a former member of this House and the wife of serving member Reverend the Hon. Fred Nile. Whilst I was reflecting on the career and life of Elaine, I re-read her inaugural speech to this House. She did not suffer political correctness lightly. She referred to her first speech as a maiden speech, although we do not use that term much these days. In those days it was still customary for a member to address his or her first speech specifically to a bill. Elaine addressed hers to the Summary Offences Amendment Bill. In her very first sentence on the floor of this Parliament she said, "It does not go far enough." It is fair to say that she stuck true to that commitment during the time she was a member of this House and throughout her whole life. Indeed, her partnership with the Reverend Fred Nile is testament to her strength in that regard. As police Minister, when I reflect upon some of the tough law and order stances we have taken over the years, and will continue to take, I miss the likes of Elaine Nile. She flew in the face of political correctness and called things as she saw them. She sought and fought for the rights of families in her own way in order to bring communities closer together. In the late 1980s, when Elaine entered Parliament, it was a different time. As a then serving police officer I remember it well. The issues Elaine spoke about—familial breakdown, drug use, prostitution and the abuse of children—in some ways are still present today, but they were different back in the 1980s. Elaine applied her particular brand of belief to addressing these issues both inside this place, on the streets of Sydney, around New South Wales and internationally. Elaine was prepared to travel widely to seek advice and the latest up-to-date information from around the world and bring it back to this place to ensure that members had every opportunity to consider what she had seen firsthand.