Legislative Council
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26669 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL Tuesday 26 October 2010 __________ The President (The Hon. Amanda Ruth Fazio) 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. ADMINISTRATION OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE STATE The PRESIDENT: I report the receipt of the following message from the Honourable Justice James Allsop, Administrator of the State of New South Wales: Office of the Governor Sydney 2000 J. Allsop ADMINISTRATOR The Honourable Justice James Allsop, Administrator of the State of New South Wales, has the honour to inform the Legislative Council that, consequent on the Lieutenant Governor of New South Wales, the Honourable James Spigelman being absent, he has this day at 12.35 p.m. assumed the administration of the Government of the State. 22 October 2010 ADMINISTRATION OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE STATE The PRESIDENT: I report the receipt of the following message from His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor: Office of the Governor Sydney 2000 J. J. Spigelman LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR The Honourable James Spigelman, Lieutenant-Governor of New South Wales has the honour to inform the Legislative council that he re-assumed the administration of the Government of the State at 9.10 p.m. on 22 October 2010. 22 October 2010 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 9.40 a.m. on 25 October 2010. 25 October 2010 ASSENT TO BILLS Assent to the following bills reported: Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Enforcement Amendment Bill 2010 Constitution Amendment (Recognition of Aboriginal People) Bill 2010 Industrial Relations Advisory Council Bill 2010 National Parks and Wildlife Amendment (Adjustment of Areas) Bill 2010 26670 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 26 October 2010 PROTECTED DISCLOSURES AMENDMENT (PUBLIC INTEREST DISCLOSURES) BILL 2010 ROAD TRANSPORT (VEHICLE REGISTRATION) AMENDMENT (WRITTEN-OFF VEHICLES) BILL 2010 Bills received from the Legislative Assembly. Leave granted for procedural matters to be dealt with on one motion without formality. Motion by the Hon. John Hatzistergos agreed to: That the bills be read a first time and printed, standing orders be suspended on contingent notice for remaining stages and the second readings of the bills be set down as orders of the day for a later hour of the sitting. Bills read a first time and ordered to be printed. Second readings set down as an order of the day for a later hour. COASTAL PROTECTION AND OTHER LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL 2010 (NO. 2) Message received from the Legislative Assembly agreeing to the Legislative Council's amendments. BUSHFIRE HAZARD REDUCTION Production of Documents: Order The Hon. MELINDA PAVEY [2.33 p.m.]: I seek leave to amend Private Members' Business item No. 271 outside the Order of Precedence for today of which I have given notice by omitting "14" and inserting instead "28". Leave granted. Motion by the Hon. Melinda Pavey agreed to: That, under Standing Order 52, there be laid upon the table of the House within 28 days of the date of the passing of this resolution, all documents, created since January 2007, in the possession, custody or control of the Premier, the Department of Premier and Cabinet, the Minister for Primary Industries, Forests NSW, the Rural Fire Service, or the Department of Industry and Investment relating to Flashpoint Fire Services and refers to contracting out of hazard reduction by Forests NSW generally and including roundtable meetings convened by Industry and Investment NSW, and any document which records or refers to the production of documents as a result of this order of the House. LEGISLATION REVIEW COMMITTEE Report The Hon. Kayee Griffin tabled, pursuant to the Legislation Review Act 1987, a report entitled "Legislation Review Digest No. 14 of 2010", dated 26 October 2010. Ordered to be printed on motion by the Hon. Kayee Griffin. COMMITTEE ON CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE Report: Review of the 2008-2009 Annual Report of the Commission for Children and Young People and the 2008 Annual Report of the Child Death Review Team The Hon. Kayee Griffin, on behalf of the Chair, tabled the report No. 7/54, entitled "Review of the 2008-2009 Annual Report of the Commission for Children and Young People and the 2008 Annual Report of the Child Death Review Team ", dated October 2010. Ordered to be printed on motion by the Hon. Kayee Griffin. 26 October 2010 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 26671 The Hon. KAYEE GRIFFIN [2.36 p.m.]: I move: That the House take note of the report. Debate adjourned on motion by the Hon. Kayee Griffin and set down as an order of the day for a future day. PETITIONS Euthanasia Petitions praying that the House will oppose any attempts to legalise or decriminalise the practice of euthanasia to ensure that the quality of life of the elderly, handicapped or terminally ill is not subject to these unjust or unethical procedures, received from the Hon. Don Harwin, Reverend the Hon. Dr Gordon Moyes and Reverend the Hon. Fred Nile. BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE Postponement of Business Government Business Notice of Motion No. 1 postponed on motion by the Hon. Tony Kelly. PARLIAMENTARY BUDGET OFFICER BILL 2010 Second Reading The Hon. ERIC ROOZENDAAL (Treasurer, Minister for State and Regional Development, Minister for Ports and Waterways, Special Minister of State, and Minister for the Illawarra [2.53 p.m.]: I move: That this bill be now read a second time. I seek leave to have my second reading speech incorporated in Hansard. Leave granted. The object of the proposed Parliamentary Budget Officer Bill 2010 is to establish the independent statutory office of Parliamentary Budget Officer to provide independent costings of election promises and, outside pre-election periods, provide independent costings of proposed policies of members of Parliament. The officer will also provide independent analysis, advice or briefings of a technical nature on financial, fiscal and economic matters to individual members of Parliament. This is a significant parliamentary reform which breaks new ground in Australia and is in line with the wider democratic reforms the Premier has introduced in this Parliament recently. The Parliamentary Budget Office [PBO] will be a truly independent arm of the legislature and will serve this Parliament and the people of New South Wales well. The scope of work of the Parliamentary Budget Office will not be limited to the costing of commitments or policies made during the election campaign, although this will be an important and critical role that it will play, but extend outside election periods to ensure an ongoing role in providing independent economic and financial analysis and advice to Parliamentarians on a range of matters, such as the costing of bills introduced to Parliament, and economic briefs on important public policy issues. The Parliamentary Budget Office will possess security of tenure for an initial period of nine years in order to ensure the true independence of the office. The method of appointing the Parliamentary Budget Officer will be through a committee of senior Government officials which will make recommendations to the Presiding Officers of the Parliament, who will in turn make the final appointment, for an initial term of 9 years. The panel of senior Government officials will consist of the New South Wales Ombudsman, the Chairperson of the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal, and the New South Wales Information Commissioner. Importantly, the Parliamentary Budget Officer will be accountable to the Parliament, not the Executive, in order to increase accountability and transparency between the legislature and the Executive, in regard to budget information and analysis, including costing of commitments made during election campaigns, to achieve a higher level of governance. The New South Wales Parliamentary Budget Office will serve both the majority and the minority and may, by resolution of the Parliament, be asked to report to a nominated parliamentary committee or committees. It is envisaged that the Parliamentary Budget Officer may be asked to appear before one committee of the Legislative Council and one committee of the Legislative Assembly for examination purposes. 26672 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 26 October 2010 The Parliamentary Budget Office will operate under an Operational Plan submitted to the Presiding Officers of the Parliament and be updated on a rolling basis. The Operational Plan will deal with a range of matters relating to the activities of the Parliamentary Budget Office including establishment, staffing, resourcing, frequency of reporting, scope of activities and related matters. The operational plan will be tabled in Parliament. The office will have a small, but highly trained staff, whose calibre will reflect the office's status as an independent body and its important role. It would also have the capacity to engage external service providers. The Parliamentary Budget Officer will also be given significant flexibility to act as he or she sees fit, limited to its functions as per the Act and the Operational Plan. The Parliamentary Budget Officer may inform him/herself on any matter and in any way, may consult with anyone he or she thinks fit, may receive written or oral information or submissions, may establish working groups and task forces and may request information from government departments and agencies. The Parliamentary Budget Office will be provided with a legislated right to request and access information in relation to its functions, with proper limitations and processes in place. In order for the Parliamentary Budget Office to be established in a timely manner and for the office to carry out its functions, it will be very well resourced with an annual budget secured for the first fixed term of nine years.