Amanda Vanstone (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I present the government’s response to the President’s report of 8 December 2005 on outstanding government responses to parliamentary committee reports, and seek leave to incorporate the document in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The document read as follows—

A CERTAIN MARITIME INCIDENT (Select)

A Certain maritime incident

A response may be considered in due course.

ADMINISTRATION OF INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS (Senate Select)

After ATSIC – Life in the mainstream

A response is being considered by the government and will be tabled shortly.

ASIO, ASIS AND DSD (Joint, Statutory)

Private review of agency security arrangements

A response is being considered by the government and is expected to be tabled shortly.

Review of the listing of six terrorist organisations

A response is being considered by the government and is expected to be tabled shortly.

Review of the listing of four terrorist organisations

A response is being considered by the government and is expected to be tabled shortly.

ASIO’s questioning and detention powers – Review of the operations, effectiveness and implications of Division 3 of Part III in the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act 1979

The response was tabled on 30 March 2006.

AUSTRALIAN CRIME COMMISSION (Joint, Statutory)

Cybercrime

The response was tabled on 9 February 2006.

Inquiry into the trafficking of women for sexual servitude

The response is being considered by the government. It is expected the response will be tabled shortly.

Examination of the annual report for 2003-04 of the Australian Crime Commission

The response is being considered by the government.

Supplementary report to the inquiry into the trafficking of women for sexual servitude

The response to the original report is to be finalised prior to issuing a response to this supplementary report.

Review of the Australian Crime Commission Act 2002

The response is being considered by the government and is expected to be tabled in the future.

COMMUNITY AFFAIRS LEGISLATION

Tobacco advertising prohibition

The response is being considered by the government and is expected to be tabled in the future.

Provisions of the Employment and Workplace Relations Legislation Amendment (Welfare to Work and Other Measures) Bill 2005 and the Family and Community Services Legislation Amendment (Welfare to Work) Bill 2005

A response is expected following finalisation of disallowable instruments (currently before the Parliament); introduction of the Consequential Amendment to the Welfare to Work Act (currently before Parliament); and development of the test for the Social Security Guide in line with the disallowable instruments, among other matters. Finally text of the Social Security Guide, which includes key issues raised in the report, is still in the process of being finalised following consultation with key stakeholders and the Minister.

COMMUNITY AFFAIRS REFERENCES

A hand up not a hand out: Renewing the fight against poverty – Report on poverty and financial hardship

The response was tabled on 27 March 2006.

The cancer journey: informing choice – Report on the inquiry into services and treatment options for persons with cancer

response is under consideration and will be tabled shortly.

Quality and equity in aged care

Australian government policy with respect to a number of recommendations is currently being developed, and the government response to the report is being delayed to allow for completion of this process.

CORPORATIONS AND SECURITIES (Joint Statutory)

Report on aspects of the regulation of proprietary companies

The response is being finalised and will be tabled in the near future.

CORPORATIONS AND FINANCIAL SERVICES (Joint Statutory)

Report on the regulations and ASIC policy statements made under the Financial Services Reform Act 2001

The government continues to respond to this report through changes to the Corporations Regulations and ongoing proposals to make further refinements to the regulation of financial services based on public comment. A response to this report will be tabled following implementation of these changes to the law.

Review of the Managed Investments Act 1998

Substantial changes to financial services regulations are currently being implemented. The impact of these changes on the operation of managed investment schemes will have to be evaluated. A response to the report will be provided in due course.

Inquiry into Regulation 7.1.29 in Corporations Amendment Regulations 2003 (No. 3), Statutory Rules 2003 No. 85

The government continues to respond to this report through changes to the Corporations Regulations and ongoing proposals to make further refinements to the regulation of financial services based on public comment. A response to this report will be tabled following implementation of these changes to the law.

Money matters in the bush: Inquiry into the level of banking and financial services in rural, regional and remote areas of Australia

The response will be finalised as soon as possible.

Report on the ATM fee structure

The response to this report is to be included with the response to the report on ‘Money Matters in the Bush’.

Corporations Amendment Regulations 2003 (Batch 6); Draft Regulations: Corporations Amendment Regulations 2003/04 (Batch 7); and Draft Regulations: Corporations amendment Regulations 2004 (Batch 8)

The government continues to respond to this report through changes to the Corporations Regulations and ongoing proposals to make further refinements to the regulation of financial services based on public comment. A response to this report will be tabled following implementation of these changes to the law.

Corporations Amendment Regulations 7.1.29A, 7.1.35A and 7.1.40(h)

The government continues to respond to this report through changes to the Corporations Regulations and ongoing proposals to make further refinements to the regulation of financial services based on public comment. A response to this report will be tabled following implementation of these changes to the law.

Property investment – Safe as houses?

The Australian government is considering the recommendations of the Committee and will table a response in due course. However, before finalizing and tabling its response the Government believes it is important to consider any recommendations made by the Ministerial Council on Consumer Affairs (MCCA) working party that is currently investigating property investment advice. The MCCA working party is due to report shortly.

Timeshare: the Price of Leisure

The government currently considering the recommendations and a response will be provided in due course.

ECONOMICS REFERENCES

Report on the operation of the Australian Taxation Office

The Australian Taxation Office has carefully considered the recommendations that relate to it, but several of the recommendations were overtaken by legislative and other developments. A report showing the current status of the recommendations will be prepared shortly.

Inquiry into mass marketed tax effective schemes and investor protection – Interim report; Second report: A recommended resolution and settlement; and Final report

After the Committee’s final report, the then Commissioner of Taxation announced a settlement offer for participants in mass marketed investment schemes which was accepted by the vast majority of participants. The Parliament has also recently passed laws giving the Commissioner greater powers to act against promoters of these schemes.

Consenting adults deficits and household debt – Links between Australia’s current account deficit, the demand for imported goods and household debt

The report is in the final stages of clearance and is expected to be tabled shortly.

ELECTORAL MATTERS (Joint, Standing)

The 2004 Federal Election: Report of the Inquiry into the Conduct of the 2004 Federal Election and Matters Related thereto

The Electoral and Referendum Amendment (Electoral Integrity and Other Measures) Bill 2006, which was introduced into the Parliament on 8 December 2005, gives effect to the government's response to a number of the Committee's recommendations which the government considers to be a priority. The government is considering the remaining recommendations and will table its full response to the report in due course.

EMPLOYMENT, WORKPLACE RELATIONS AND EDUCATION REFERENCES

Bridging the skills divide

The response will be updated after the 2006-07 Budget and is expected to be tabled later in the year.

Beyond Cole: The future of the construction industry: Confrontation or Cooperation?

The response was tabled on 7 February 2006.

Unfair dismissal and small business employment

The response was tabled on 30 March 2006.

Indigenous Education Funding – Final Report

The response is being updated to reflect most recent developments and will be tabled in due course.

Student income support

The response is currently being drafted through a coordinated approach with relevant line and central agencies. It is expected to be tabled within the next three months.

Workplace agreements

A response is expected to be tabled in the near future. The Workplace Relations Amendment (Work Choices) Act 2005 deals with a number of issues canvassed in the report.

ENVIRONMENT, COMMUNICATIONS, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND THE ARTS REFERENCES

The value of water: Inquiry into Australia’s urban water management

A response will be tabled shortly.

Regulating the Range, Jabiluka, Beverley and Honeymoon uranium mines

An extensive consultation process is continuing. A draft response will not be ready before late 2006.

The Australian telecommunications network

The government considers that the substance of SECITARC’s recommendations of the ‘Australian Telecommunications Network’ report are effectively addressed by the telecommunications regulatory framework, particularly following its further revision in 2005, and other recent government initiatives such as the $1.1 billion Connect Australia package. As such, the report has been overtaken by events and the government will not be tabling a response.

Competition in broadband services

The government considers that the substance of SECITARC’s recommendations of the ‘Competition in broadband services’ report are effectively addressed by the telecommunications regulatory framework, particularly following its further revision in 2005, and other recent government initiatives such as the $1.1 billion Connect Australia package. As such, the report has been overtaken by events and the government will not be tabling a response.

Turning back the tide – the invasive species challenge: Report on the regulation, control and management of invasive species and the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Invasive Species) Bill 2002

A draft response is in the final stages of consultation and will be tabled in due course.

Lurching Forward, looking back: Budgetary and Environmental implications of the Government’s Energy White Paper

A response has been drafted and will be tabled in due course.

The performance of the Australian telecommunications regulatory regime

The government is currently considering whether there are any outstanding items to response to following the legislative reforms made in September 2005 and the commencement of the Connect Australia program.

FINANCE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REFERENCES

Staff employed under the Members of Parliament (Staff) Act 1984

A response is being prepared and will be tabled as soon as possible.

Regional partnerships and sustainable regions programs

A response is being prepared and will be tabled as soon as possible.

Matters relating to the Gallipoli Peninsula

The government’s response is being prepared and will be tabled as soon as possible.

Government advertising and accountability

A response is being prepared and will be tabled as soon as possible.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS, DEFENCE AND TRADE (Joint, Standing)

Australia’s Maritime Strategy

The response was tabled on 15 June 2006.

Australia’s engagement with the World Trade Organisation

The response was tabled on 2 March 2006.

Australia’s human rights dialogue process

The response was tabled on 2 March 2006.

Reform of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights

A government response is not required.

Review of the Defence annual report 2003-04

The response was tabled on 27 March 2006.

Australia’s free trade agreements with Singapore, Thailand and the United States: progress to date and lessons for the future

The government’s response is under consideration.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS, DEFENCE AND TRADE REFERENCES

Mr Chen Yonglin’s request for political asylum

The proposed response is currently being prepared and will be finalised as soon as possible.

Opportunities and Challenges: Australia’s Relationship with China

The government has agreed with the Committee that a consolidated response will be provided to the recommendations in both Part 1 “Opportunities and Challenges: Australia’s Relationship with China”; and Part 2 “China’s Emergence: Implications for Australia”.

The removal, search for and discovery of Ms Vivian Solon – Final report

The proposed response is currently being prepared and will be finalised as soon as possible.

FREE TRADE AGREEMENT BETWEEN AUSTRALIA AND THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (Select)

Final Report

The response was tabled on 9 May 2006.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES (Select)

In the public interest: Monitoring Australia’s media

The government is finalising its response to the committee’s report which will be tabled in due course.

LEGAL AND CONSTITUTIONAL LEGISLATION

Provisions of the Law and Justice Legislation Amendment (Serious Drugs and Other Measures) Bill 2005

The recommendations were responded to in the Senate debate on 7 November 2005.

Provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Bill (No. 2) 2005

The report was responded to in the second reading speech and amendments the government made to the bill.

LEGAL AND CONSTITUTIONAL REFERENCES

Reconciliation: Off track

The government is still considering its response.

Legal aid and access to justice

The response was tabled on 7 February 2006.

The road to a republic

The response will be tabled in due course.

They still call Australia home: Inquiry into Australian expatriates

The proposed response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

The real Big Brother: Inquiry into the Privacy Act 1988

The response is being considered by the government and is expected to the tabled shortly.

MEDICARE (Senate Select)

Medicare – healthcare or welfare? and

Second report: Medicare Plus: the future for Medicare?

The large number of measures contained in the Strengthening Medicare, 100% Medicare and Round the Clock Medicare packages have addressed most of the issues examined by the Senate Select Committee on Medicare.

Development and implementation of these policies has been an ongoing process. A formal government response to the Senate Select Committee on Medicare is expected to be tabled in the near future.

MIGRATION (Joint, Standing)

Detention centre contracts: Review of Audit report No. 1 2005-06 – Management of the detention centre contracts – Part B

The proposed response is currently being prepared and will be finalised as soon as possible.

MINISTERIAL DISCRETION IN MIGRATION MATTERS (Senate Select)

Report

The proposed response is being finalised for government consideration.

NATIONAL CAPITAL AND EXTERNAL TERRITORIES (Joint, Standing)

Norfolk Island electoral matters

A response will be considered once the government has made a decision on the future governance arrangements for Norfolk Island.

Antarctica: Australia’s Pristine Frontier. Report on the adequacy of funding for Australia’s Antarctic Program

A response is being drafted and will be tabled in due course.

Norfolk Island Financial Sustainability: The Challenge – Sink or Swim?

A response will be considered once the government has made a decision on the future governance arrangements for Norfolk Island.

PUBLIC ACCOUNTS AND AUDIT (Joint Statutory)

Corporate governance and accountability arrangements for Commonwealth Government business enterprises, December 1999 (Report no. 372)

The government is considering its response to outstanding recommendations and a response will be tabled in due course.

Access of Indigenous Australians to Law and Justice Services (Report no. 403)

The response was tabled on 2 March 2006.

Review of Auditor-General’s reports 2003-04 third and fourth quarters; and first and second quarters of 2004-05 (Report no. 404)

The response is being prepared and will be finalised as soon as possible.

Review of Aviation Security in Australia (Report no. 406)

As agreed with the Committee, the Department Transport and Regional Services provided a letter dated 16 February 2006, acknowledging the interim report. A response will be provided when the final report is tabled.

RURAL AND REGIONAL AFFAIRS AND TRANSPORT LEGISLATION

An appropriate level of protection? The importation of salmon products: A case study of the administration of Australian quarantine and the impact of international trade arrangements

A response is being considered by the government and is expected to be tabled shortly.

Biosecurity Australia’s import risk analysis for pig meat

Legal processes relating to the import risk analysis have been completed. A response by the government is in preparation.

Administration of Biosecurity Australia – Revised draft import risk analysis for bananas from the Philippines

A response is being considered by the government and is expected to be tabled shortly.

Administration of Biosecurity Australia – Revised draft import risk analysis for apples from New Zealand

A response is being considered by the government and is expected to be tabled shortly.

Regulatory framework under the Maritime Transport Security Amendment Act 2005

A response is being considered by the government and is expected to be tabled shortly.

RURAL AND REGIONAL AFFAIRS AND TRANSPORT REFERENCES

Rural water use

The response is in the final stages of clearance and is expected to be table in the near future.

Australian forest plantations: A review of Plantations for Australia: The 2020 vision

The response is in the final stages of clearance and is expected to be table in the near future.

Iraqi Wheat Debate: repayments for wheat growers

The government’s response is in the final stages for clearance.

The operation of the wine-making industry

The response is in the final stages of clearance and is expected to be table in the near future.

SCRUTINY OF BILLS (Senate Standing)

Third report of 2004: The quality of explanatory memoranda accompanying bills

A response will be tabled in due course.

SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES (Senate Select)

Report on early access to superannuation benefits

The response was tabled on 19 June 2006.

TREATIES (Joint, Standing)

Treaties tabled on 7 December 2004 (3) and 8 February 2005 (65th report)

The government’s response is being finalised and will be tabled in due course.

Treaties tabled on 7 December 2004 (4), 15 March and 11 May 2005 (66th report)

The committee received a letter on 30 November 2005 regarding the recommendations. The response will be tabled as soon as possible.

Treaties tabled on 21 June 2005 (67th report)

A government response not required.

Treaties tabled on 7 December 2004 (5) and 9 August 2005 (68th Report)

A government response not required.

Andrew Bartlett (Queensland, Australian Democrats) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

That the Senate take note of the documents tabled earlier today.

It is particularly important to look at these documents in the context of the current public debate and the debate within this Senate chamber about the role of Senate committees and apparently—according to statements made by the leader of the government in this place, Senator Minchin, in recent days—the failure of the system we have with Senate committees. Until those statements were made, I was not aware that the system had failed or even that others in the government had thought it had failed.

Looking at the report to the Senate on government responses outstanding to parliamentary committee reports that has just been tabled, to put a bit of history to this, as is quite helpfully detailed in the document, this is a practice that has been in place since 1973. It used to be that the government ministers would respond to the tabling of a committee report and respond to the recommendations within those reports within six months. The new Labor government in 1983 made a commitment to shorten that period to three months. When this government came into power in 1996, it affirmed, according to this document, its commitment to respond to relevant parliamentary committee reports within three months of their presentation.

Let us look at the reality of how prompt the government’s responses to committee reports are after being in office for 10 years. I will only pick out some of the reports I know the detail of; I will not pick on all of them. There might be valid reasons for the time taken to respond to some of them, but we should keep in mind the commitment of the government to respond to committee reports and the recommendations they contain within three months.

We saw tabled just a few moments ago the government response to the Community Affairs References Committee report on the delivery of services and treatment options for persons with cancer, a report that I am fairly sure was unanimous. The report was tabled on 23 June last year, so the government have had 12 months almost precisely to respond to it. Maybe you could say that taking a year to respond was just a one-off, but I can give another example in the environment references committee report. Although I am currently chair of that committee, I was not at the time of the presentation of the report into the invasive species challenge called Turning back the tidewhich was a report on the regulation, control and management of invasive species.

There was also a private senator’s bill, which was mine, that suggested amendments to the EPBC Act. The committee recommended unanimously not to proceed with my bill—it totally rejected what I proposed—so I probably should not be drawing attention to it. But it also brought into place, unanimously, a lot of recommendations about what was needed to do better on invasive species. It is an issue that I know is of concern to many people on all sides of the chamber. It costs people in rural and regional areas in particular an enormous amount of money, apart from its environmental impact. The report was tabled in December 2004. It was a unanimous report with a range of important recommendations. Eighteen months later: no response. The only responses we have had from government are: ‘response being prepared’, ‘response being considered’, ‘response available soon’ or ‘response available in the near future’. Those are the sorts of responses that the government puts forward. But the reality is that 18 months later there is no response.

The issue of water is a crucial one, and is more crucial now than it was when the environment committee held an inquiry into Australia’s urban water management. The report was tabled on 5 December 2002. I do not think it was unanimous, but it certainly had some components that were. Again, the inquiry was held before I became chair of the committee; I think my colleague Senator Allison was chair at the time. There is still only an interim response to the report. There has been no full response.

This not only reflects badly on the Senate but also points to where the real problem is. The biggest problem in the committee process is not, I think, whether or not there is a government chair, a Labor chair, a Democrat chair or a Green chair; it is that the committees do all this work and produce all these recommendations—they certainly do in my experience and in the experience of many of us here, although I would not say that is universal. They attempt to find common ground to try to get unanimous recommendations and put forward constructive proposals but are met with silence—a total absence of any response at all from the government.

I am not saying the government should agree to all the recommendations. The other day they responded, as they sometimes do, to a superannuation committee report on early access to superannuation benefits. I remember reading it. The government’s response was presented just a few days ago. The government rejected, I think, all but one of the recommendations, and that is fine. The government can reject them and put forward the reasons why. The problem is that that response took four years and four months to be presented—it took four years and four months to say, ‘No—don’t think so’. How ridiculous! It shows contempt not just for the Senate and the committees but also for the public.

I am sure we all know this, because we are all involved in Senate committees, but let me remind senators that perhaps people outside do not realise how much work people put into submissions to committees, particularly businesspeople and community organisations. They do not have lots of spare time. They do not have lots of spare money. But they put in the time to put in submissions. They put in the time to come and sit before public hearings, give their views and answer questions because they want to make a difference. They want to influence the public debate because they want to influence the direction of policy. What an insult it is to them to produce a report with recommendations—based on their evidence and after all of their work—that is met with total silence. That is where the real problem lies in our committee process.

If the government genuinely want to fix up the effectiveness of our committee process, I suggest they look at the report on government responses to inquiry reports and at their complete failure in so many areas to respond to so many substantial reports with significant recommendations. I know there are some inquiry reports listed in that document that were partisan reports or reports where clearly there was a split along party lines, such as some of the telecommunications and workplace relations ones. Personally, I do not believe that that is an excuse for the government not responding. In fact, it is easier for them to respond because they already have their response in mind. It is predetermined, partisan and on party lines. But we should not fall for the myth that there has been a whole raft of committee inquiries that have all been party political and partisan point-scoring exercises with no substance to them.

The vast majority of reports listed in the report on government responses are reports of substance. A very significant component of them—the majority, I believe—have unanimous recommendations. They might have a few additional comments or dissents to some recommendations, but the bulk of them are unanimous. Frankly, I am sick of spending a lot of time genuinely working constructively in committee inquiries with my colleagues to bring down reports and then hearing nothing. I am not saying that that is the only value that Senate committee reports have, which is just as well because, to use the invasive species example, that report has been very influential in driving actions of federal and state governments and other bodies in the community. It has provided a useful benchmark to use to measure actions against, and it has provided a lot of valuable information that people draw on.

Government responses are not the be all and end all. It is not all purely us providing a report and then begging the government to please accept it, but the government’s lack of response is a key flaw and I believe it is significantly diminishing the effectiveness of the committee report process. That is something that I believe must be addressed, because it already reflects poorly on the Senate. Senators may recall the series of reports—I think they were by the Sydney Morning Heraldon just this factor written about a year ago. And it is not a matter of who controls the committees. The government is just as tardy—in fact, it is even more tardy—in responding to House of Reps committee reports that are government chaired and controlled. It is even more dismissive of them, so if that is what we have got to look forward to once government members are chairing all the Senate committees, then God help us. It is a completely unacceptable situation.

Mr Acting Deputy President Chapman, as the chair of the Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services—a committee that I am not involved with, but my understanding is that it often brings down constructive and unanimous reports—you will be interested to know that it has had very slow responses from the government. I have reports going back to 2002 here that have still not been responded to properly by the government. There is a whole series of them. I can see nine or 10 from 2002 through to 2005 that have still not been responded to in areas to do with ASIC, corporations amendments, property investment and the like.

Some of them may have been surpassed by time—I would hope so; you would not want policies to sit in a vacuum for all of that time—but that is still no excuse not to respond, and it is an affront to the Senate and the parliament not to have responses. And for a government to come in here talking about some problem with the way the committees are running when they come up with performances like this is a joke. I suggest they look at this first, before they start trying to make so-called improvements to the committee structure.

Question agreed to.