NSW Parliament – Crossbench and new government transparency measures

At the March 2019 NSW election, 21 members of the crossbench were elected – 10 in the Legislative Assembly and 11 in the Legislative Council, and the crossbench now holds of the balance of power in the Legislative Council.

On the first day of the new Parliament sitting, crossbenchers from the Greens and Shooters, Fishers and Farmers worked with the Opposition to pass reforms to parliamentary procedures to bring in greater transparency and openness in scrutinising government decisions. These procedural changes include:

• Parliamentary committees, in addition to the Legislative Council, can order government documents to be tabled in parliament • Ministers and top public servants to front a full day of scrutiny twice a year during budget estimates (instead of 3 hours once a year currently in place) • Parliamentary secretaries to also face question time and estimates (instead of Ministers only) • Doubling the time for Opposition and crossbenchers to introduce new bills • A 30-minute debate will be held after question time each sitting day where government claims made during question time can be challenged

The makeup of the 2019-2023 NSW Parliament is as follows:

Members of the Legislative Council

In the Legislative Council, the Government requires 5 of 11 crossbench votes for legislation to pass. The Opposition needs 7 of 11 crossbench votes to block legislation.

Minority Party Members Bio

Greens 3 MLC: First elected in 2010. Former Barrister representing works, unions and other clients and former Councillor at Woollahra Council.

Cate Faehrman MLC: Elected 2018 and previous MLC 2010-2013. Former Chair of Sea Shepherd , Executive Director of Nature Conservation Council of NSW. MLC: Elected 2019. Former lawyer working in global finance.

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Independents 1 MLC: Elected as Green in 2016. Independent since April 2019. Former officer in the and worked for environmental NGOs. Shooters, 2 MLC: Elected 2019. Former high school teacher and Fishers and Chair of the Federation of Hunting Clubs. Farmers Party MLC: First elected 2010. Registered tax accountant.

One Nation 2 MLC: Elected 2019. Former Federal Labor Leader and media commentator.

Rod Roberts MLC: Elected 2019. Retired Police Detective Sergeant and former real estate agent and auctioneer.

Animal Justice 2 Mark Pearson MLC: First elected 2015. Former Executive Director or Party President of Animal Liberation in Australia for 22 years; and Acute Adult Psychiatric Nurse Specialist.

Emma Hurst MLC: Elected 2019. Registered Psychologist.

Christian 1 Rev MLC: First elected 1981. Ordained evangelical Democrats Congregational Minister. Total: Coalition Government = 16 (including speaker) Labor Opposition = 14 Crossbench = 11

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Members of the Legislative Assembly

In the Legislative Assembly, the Government has a two seat majority. This tight majority was tested early in the parliamentary session on 5 June, when crossbenchers joined the Labor Opposition and the Speaker was forced to cast the deciding vote. This early 2019 vote shows the Government majority in the Legislative Assembly remains somewhat precarious.

Party Members Bio Greens 3 Jamie Parker MP: Member for Balmain since 2011. Former Mayor of Leichhardt Municipal Council and Founding member of the Australian Coalition for Democracy in Burma

Jenny Leong MP: Member for Newtown since 2015. Former Crisis Coordinator at Amnesty International and Manager at the Australia Council for the Arts.

Tamara Smith MP: Member for Ballina since 2015. First Greens MP in a regional electorate in any Australian Parliament. Former high school teacher and Supreme Court solicitor. Independents 3 Alex Greenwich MP: Member for Sydney first elected at November 2012 byelection. Former recruitment manager and chair of Australian Marriage Equality.

Greg Piper MP: Member for Lake Macquarie since 2007. Former Mayor of Lake Macquarie City Council and former Chairman, Lake Macquarie Coastal and Estuary Management Committee.

Joe McGirr MP: Member for Wagga Wagga first elected at September 2018 by- election. Emergency medical care doctor Shooters, 3 Phil Donato MP: Member for Orange first elected at November 2016 by- Fishers and election. Former Police officer and prosecutor. Farmers Party Roy Butler MP: Member for Barwon elected 2019. Former Police manager.

Helen Dalton MP: Member for Murray elected 2019. Former teacher. Total: Coalition Government = 48 (including President) Labor Opposition = 36 Crossbench = 9

For more information, contact Counsel House’s Advisor David Halliday on 0409324127 or [email protected]

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