Page 352 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 1 March 1994
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Subclause 22(3) suggests that a report, once the commission has finished its inquiry, shall be submitted to the Attorney-General, where the Assembly has, by resolution, fixed a date, on or before that date, or, in the other case, effectively whenever it finishes. As the Assembly has not been given a power to set a date and the Assembly simply says, "We want an inquiry", and the Executive sets up the inquiry and sets the date, that provision about the Assembly setting a date is superfluous. We did discuss whether it was immaterial, whether we would just leave it because it did not matter; but it probably is better to clear it up. The best way to clear it up, on reflection, is simply to delete subclause 22(3). It will mean that there will be some Clerk's amendments afterwards. We will sequentially renumber so that we will not have a gap in the legislation.
Once we take out the reference to an Assembly resolution, which is superfluous, all subclause (3) then really says is that a report from the commission is given to the Attorney-General as soon as practicable after they have finished it. Basically, it says that they cannot give it to me before they have finished it; they give it to me after they finish it, which is a pointless thing to say. It is probably better to strike out the clause.
Amendment agreed to.
MR CONNOLLY (Attorney-General, Minister for Housing and Community Services and Minister for Urban Services) (8.59), by leave: I move:
Clause 22, page 10, line 37, after subclause 22(5), insert the following subclause:
"(6) The Attorney-General shall accept a recommendation referred to in paragraph 4(f) unless he or she is satisfied that there are compelling reasons of public policy why the relevant report should be laid before the Legislative Assembly.".
Clause 23, page 11, line 3, subclause (1), omit "in accordance with subsection 22(4)", substitute "in relation to which he or she has accepted a recommendation referred to in paragraph 22(4)(f)".
Clause 23, page 11, line 13, subclause (3), insert "in relation to which the Attorney-General has accepted a recommendation referred to in paragraph 22(4)(f)" after "subsection 22(4)".
We move now, Madam Speaker, to a matter of somewhat more significance in terms of the amendments before us. The inquiries of a judicial commission obviously could range into some fairly sensitive areas. We are really setting up, in many ways, a mini-royal commission that could be making allegations about all sorts of behaviour, either morally sordid or straight out criminal. Indeed, both of those categories have been basically the outcome of two judicial commissions that did report adversely on judges in other parts of Australia recently. What is in these reports can thus be very significant.
Where the report is making adverse findings about the judge, it is clear that that report comes into this Assembly and, if the finding is that the judge should go, the Assembly then deliberates on that; but a lot of people can get caught up in that process. We have a provision in clause 22, which basically deals with reports, that provides that, while generally I must table reports, the commission
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