Tributes to the Queen and Budget Debates in the Parliament of Australia

Parliamentary Report by Fleur Hall, Parliament of Australia

Death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

On Friday 9 September 2022, the Governor-General of Australia, His Excellency General Hon. David Hurley, AC DSC (Retd), advised Australians that Her Majesty The Queen had passed away the previous day. In his statement, the Governor-General passed on his condolences to members of the Royal Family and said that he joined all Australians in mourning and reflecting on Her Majesty’s lifetime of tireless service, noting that she had served Australia “with enormous distinction for more than seventy years.”

The Australian House of Representatives and the Australian Senate did not meet in the week beginning 12 September 2022, as had been scheduled. Several commemorative activities marked the death of Her Majesty and the accession of the new monarch, King Charles III. These included a 96-gun salute on 9 September, and a ceremony on the Forecourt of Parliament House at 11.00 am on 11 September, at which the Governor General read the Proclamation regarding His Majesty The King. A National Memorial Service was also held at Australian Parliament House and broadcast to the nation on 22 September 2022.

The House met on 23 September 2022, the date that had been earlier fixed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Milton Dick, MP. The Prime Minister, Hon. Anthony Albanese, MP, moved that the House agree to an address to King Charles III expressing deep sympathy for the great loss sustained in the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and extending congratulations to the King on his accession to the throne. The motion was seconded by the Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Peter Dutton, MP. The Deputy Prime Minister, Hon. Richard Marles, MP, and the Leader of the Nationals, Hon. David Littleproud, MP, then addressed the House in support of the motion. All Members present rose in their places to signify their respect and sympathy. A further 109 Members contributed to the debate before the address was agreed to.

In the Senate, an identical motion was moved by the Acting Leader of the Government in the Senate, Senator Hon. Don Farrell. The motion was supported, with 47 Senators contributing to the debate during the day, before all Senators present joined in a moment of silence.

October 2022-2023 Budget

In March 2022, Appropriation Bills were introduced into the House of Representatives, but lapsed, having not passed before the dissolution of the House prior to the general election. Supply Bills, passed by the House and the Senate and assented to on 1 April 2022, had provided interim funds to cover normal government and parliamentary activity for the first five months of 2022-23 – that is, until the end of November 2022.

On 25 October 2022, the Treasurer, Hon. Dr Jim Chalmers, MP (Australian Labor Party), introduced Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2022-2023 (the main Appropriation Bill). During his Second Reading speech, the Treasurer said that the budget “is right for the times and readies us for the future.” He said that the new Government’s budget “provides cost of living relief which is responsible, not reckless – to make life easier for Australians, without adding to inflation; targets investments in a stronger, more resilient, more modern economy; and begins the hard yards of budget repair.”

Before making funding announcements, the Treasurer set the scene by referring to the uncertainties of the global economy, which he said, “teeters on the edge – with a war that isn’t ending, a global energy crisis that is escalating, inflationary pressures persisting, and economies slowing – some of them already in reverse.” He said that these global challenges, along with high inflation and higher interest rates “will have an impact.” The Treasurer went on to announce a suite of measures, including for:

• natural disasters, including AU$3 billion in response to floods and AU$200 million per year in disaster prevention.
• cost of living relief, with a package comprising funding for childcare, expanded paid parental leave, medicines and housing, as well as support for workers on the minimum wage.
• vocational and tertiary education.
• renewable energy, and clean-energy manufacturing in Australia.
• transport infrastructure.

Concluding his speech, the Treasurer told the House that “getting through this period stronger than we were before will rely on the very best aspects of our national character – our resilience, our pragmatism, our cooperation and our confidence, and above all else, our belief in each other.”

Following the Budget speech, Appropriation Bill (No. 2) 2022-2023 and the Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 1) 2022-2023 were presented by the Assistant Treasurer, Hon. Stephen Jones, MP. Immediately afterwards, the Assistant Treasurer presented Supply Bills (No. 3) and (No. 4) 2022-23 and Supply (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 2) 2022-23, which will provide appropriations for the continuation of normal government and parliamentary activity for the remainder of the financial year. In presenting these Bills, the Assistant Treasurer noted that they did not contain any funding for new financial measures. During debate on Supply Bill (No. 3), the Member for Griffith, Mr Max Chandler Mather, MP (Australian Greens) moved a Second Reading amendment, which was defeated on the voices. The Supply Bills passed the House that evening, and passed the Senate the next day.

On Thursday 27 October 2022, the Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Peter Dutton, MP, gave the Budget reply, in which he described the Government’s Budget as a “missed opportunity to help you at a time when you need help.” Mr Dutton argued that the Budget “didn’t address our economic challenges or inspire confidence. It’s a budget which breaks promises rather than keeps them, it’s a budget which weakens Australia’s financial position rather than strengthens it and it’s a budget which adds to rather than alleviates your cost-of-living pressures.” Mr Dutton said that the budget is “failing you…in energy, tax relief, housing, filling job shortages, industrial relations and infrastructure in our regions” and that “by Christmas, a typical family will be AU$2,000 worse off under this budget.” However, Mr Dutton said that the Opposition commended “several good measures in Tuesday’s budget: the extension of the childcare subsidy to more Australian families; the commitment to reduce the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme co-payment, to lower the cost of medicines; the support for housing for our veterans; the initiatives to combat domestic violence; and the funding to help Australians recover from devastating floods.”

During his speech, Mr Dutton outlined several Opposition policies, including to:

• assist first home buyers by accessing their superannuation through the super homebuyers scheme.
• double the age and veteran service pension work bonus scheme from AU$300 to AU$600 per fortnight, or to AU$1,200 for couples.

Mr Dutton concluded by telling the House that the Opposition “will have a clearly defined positive and bold plan, ahead of the next election, to take our country forward. We will support hardworking Australians. We will support all Australians. And we will rebuild a stronger economy for your family and for our country.”

Debate on the Second Reading of the Main Appropriation Bill resumed on 9 November 2022. As is customary, the debate was a cognate debate that covered Appropriation Bill (No. 2) and Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 1). It is expected that many Members will contribute to the Second Reading debate, during which the requirement for debate to be relevant to the subject matter is waived, under the Standing Orders, and public affairs may be debated. While the Second Reading debate is occurring in the House of Representatives, the particulars of expenditure contained in the Bills are being examined by the Senate through its Estimates Committees.

Reflections on the 10^th Anniversary of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights

On 19 August 2022, to mark the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights, a panel discussion at Parliament House was held as part of the Senate public lecture series. The panel was comprised of Mr Harry Jenkins, AO (26th Speaker of the House of Representatives, Member for Scullin for 27 years and inaugural Chair of the Committee), Hon. Ken Wyatt, AM (Member for Hasluck for 12 years, former Minister for Indigenous Australians and the inaugural Deputy Chair of the Committee) and Mr Graham Perrett, MP (current Member for Moreton, former Deputy Chair of the Committee, and current member of the Committee). The discussion was moderated by the Committee’s adviser, Dr Jacqueline Mowbray, Associate Professor at the University of Sydney.

The panel reflected on the establishment of the Committee in 2012, and its remit to develop appropriate recognition of human rights in Australia and human rights issues in legislative and policy development, through the scrutiny of every Bill and every legislative instrument for compliance with international human rights law. It was observed that the Committee has, in the past 10 years, tabled 124 scrutiny reports, eight annual reports, eight inquiry reports and has considered 2,254 Bills of and over 18,000 legislative instruments. The panel discussion was wide-ranging. It included reflections on the challenges and achievements of the Committee in its early years, its role during the pandemic, and how its bipartisan nature has endured as it undertakes its important technical scrutiny work. A paper accompanying the lecture, which also assesses the impact of the Committee, is available at www.aph.gov. au/senate/lectures.

Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth (CSPOC)

The 26th Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth will be hosted by the Parliament of Australia from Tuesday 3 to Friday 6 January 2023. The Conference, which was created as an initiative of the then Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada, Hon. Lucien Lamoureux, in 1969, brings together the Speakers and Presiding Officers of the national Parliaments of the independent sovereign states of the Commonwealth. The 26th CSPOC was to have taken place in early 2022 but was postponed due to the pandemic. The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Milton Dick, MP, and the President of the Senate, Senator Hon. Sue Lines, look forward to welcoming Conference participants in January 2023.

Third Reading Report: Australia

Third Reading Report by Fleur Hall, Parliament of Australia

Social Security (Administration) Amendment (Repeal of Cashless Debit Card and Other Measures) Bill 2022

This Bill was introduced in the House of Representatives on 27 July 2022. The Bill amends the:

• Social Security (Administration) Act 1999 to abolish the cashless welfare arrangements (also known as the cashless debit card or CDC program) and provide for certain exiting program participants to enter alternative income management arrangements, including on a voluntary basis; and
• A New Tax System (Family Assistance) (Administration) Act 1999, National Emergency Declaration Act 2020, Social Security Act 1991 and Social Security (Administration) Act 1999 to make consequential amendments.

The Minister for Social Services, Hon. Amanda Rishworth, MP (Australian Labor Party) told the House that the Bill “delivers on the Albanese government’s election commitment to abolish the cashless debit card and is the first product of ongoing and sincere consultation with many communities around the country.” The Minister said that the CDC had been introduced “by the former government in Ceduna in 2016, but over time it was expanded to the East Kimberley, Goldfields, Bundaberg and Hervey Bay areas, and most recently, the Northern Territory and Cape York….to address some adverse behaviours relating to drug and alcohol misuse in communities, by quarantining a proportion of a person’s income support.”

The Minister argued that “there has never been evidence to show that the cashless debit card is delivering on this objective.” She told the House that the government had “listened to First Nations community leaders, service providers and cashless debit card participants in these communities, and many have told us that the CDC card stigmatises them and makes their lives more difficult because they cannot access the cash economy.” The Minster said that the more than 17,000 participants would be progressively transitioned from the CDC upon the Bill receiving royal assent and that the government’s priority was to ensure that this was achieved “in a safe and structured way.”

The Member for Deakin, Hon. Michael Sukkar, MP (Liberal Party of Australia) describing the Bill as “very destructive” told the House that “there are very few times when we can say with so much certainty what the consequences of a government decision will be, but here the evidence is clear: more alcohol and more drugs in these communities will lead to misery…for the most vulnerable people…children who will be neglected by those who will now have more ready access to alcohol and drugs. There will be more children who will be abused in circumstances of drug-affected individuals perpetrating that violence, including sexual violence, on those children.”

In her contribution, the Member for Mayo, Ms Rebekah Sharkie, MP (Centre Alliance) said that “the point of the card was to address anti-social behaviours in many communities.” Ms Sharkie told the House that she was “one of perhaps a handful of people in this place…who have not only spoken on this Bill and researched it in depth…but also visited Ceduna and spent time in Hervey Bay with NGOs and participants to really get a very good understanding of this card.”

Ms Sharkie said that “when I talked with community members, I heard that it was supportive. It had a positive effect. Tourism had come back into Ceduna.” Ms Sharkie said that the trials should be extended, and “concrete evidence” that the CDC works was needed. She described the reports on the CDC as “flawed… lacking in baseline data [and] largely subjective…they were asking people if they wanted to be on the card, rather than asking the police whether there had been a drop in alcohol fuelled violence…and drug offences.” Ms Sharkie concluded by saying that she had “not been ideological on this in any way. I’ve been looking at how we can positively affect the lives of people.”

The Bill was introduced in the Senate on 3 August 2022. The Assistant Minister for Indigenous Australians and Assistant Minister for Indigenous Health, Senator Hon. Malarndirri McCarthy said that “there are thousands of Australians who do not want to be on the card” and that “none of the previous inquiries or reports over four years could say that the CDC was working in such an effective way that it was reducing trauma, reducing domestic violence or increasing people’s ability to live a life free of all of that.”

The Leader of the Nationals in the Senate, Senator Hon. Bridget McKenzie, reiterated her party’s opposition to the Bill, arguing that the CDC “has actually provided, particularly women and children, a safety net, a security to ensure that they can provide for the very real and essential needs.” Senator McKenzie said that “we all say we want to help…the facts are, as much as you philosophically might not like it, the cashless debit card made it better.” She concluded by calling on the government “to stop playing to your citycentric voters and listen, in particular, to the women of Indigenous and remote communities.”

Conveying the Australian Greens’ support for the Bill, Senator Janet Rice said that “compulsory income management has consistently failed to benefit those who it has been imposed upon and has instead had a demonstrably harmful impact.” She quoted from evidence of the Aboriginal Peak Organisations Northern Territory to the Senate Inquiry on the CDC, saying that “[it]..is a vehicle for disempowerment and perpetuates stigmatisation of Aboriginal people. Rather than building capacity and independence, for many the program has acted to make people more dependent on welfare.” Senator Rice said that the Greens “support an opt-in voluntary option for income management for those who want it.”

During the Committee of the Whole debate, 34 Government amendments and three amendments from the Australian Greens were agreed to. The Bill, as amended, was agreed to and read a third time. The House considered and agreed to the Senate amendments on 28 September. The Bill received royal assent on 30 September 2022.

Fair Work Amendment (Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave) Bill 2022

This Bill was introduced in the House of Representatives on 28 July 2022. The Bill amends the Fair Work Act 2009 to:

• replace the current entitlement in the National Employment Standards to five days of unpaid family and domestic violence leave in a 12-month period with an entitlement to ten days of paid leave for full-time, part-time and casual employees;
• extend the definition of family and domestic violence to include conduct of a current or former intimate partner of an employee, or a member of an employee’s household; and
• extend the entitlement to paid family and domestic violence leave to non national system employees once the International Labour Organization Convention on Violence and Harassment (No. 190) comes into force for Australia.

The Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Hon. Tony Burke, MP, told the House that “no worker should ever have to choose between their safety and their income.” The Minister said that “the facts set out by the Fair Work Commission in its recent review are frightening… on average, one woman is killed by her current or former partner every 10 days in Australia.” He argued that it was “not an overstatement to say that this is a workplace entitlement that will save lives” and that the Bill “sends a clear message that family and domestic violence is not just a criminal justice or social issue, but an economic and a workplace issue.”

The Manager of Opposition Business, Hon. Paul Fletcher, MP (Liberal Party of Australia) said that the Bill “builds on the measures put in place by the former coalition government following the independent Fair Work Commission’s 2018 decision to grant five days of unpaid family and domestic violence leave to employees covered by a modern award.” Mr Fletcher argued that “notwithstanding the research and consultation carried out by the Fair Work Commission, the government has opted to legislate a scheme for paid family and domestic violence leave which is far broader and, potentially, more costly than the Fair Work Commission and industry previously contemplated.”

Mr Fletcher said that the Bill did this by:

• providing for 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave in a 12-month period for casual employees;
• providing for 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave upon commencement, rather than have it accrue like other leave entitlements;
• providing for access to paid family and domestic violence leave at an employee’s full rate of pay for the hours that they would have worked had they not taken the leave;
• extending definition of ‘family and domestic violence’ to include conduct of a current or former intimate partner of an employee or a member of an employee’s household; and
• extending the full paid entitlement to all employees when the International Labour Organization convention No. 190, concerning violence and harassment, comes into force for Australia.

Mr Fletcher said that “these issues must be worked through with employers and in particular, small-business employers prior to the commencement of the operation of this entitlement.”

The Member for Indi, Dr Helen Haines, MP, observed that “the rate of family violence in the biggest towns of my electorate of Indi is staggering” and that she “welcomed the legislation.” Dr Haines acknowledged that “for some employers, this will be a challenge” and that it was necessary to “ensure that there’s education and support, especially for small businesses.” Dr Haines said that for victims of family violence, “leaving their relationship may have already seemed an insurmountable task because of the huge financial cost involved. This [Bill] goes some way to lightening that load, but this is just the beginning.” She added that she hoped “to see much more from the government on prevention.”

In the Senate, the Leader of the Australian Greens in the Senate, Senator Larissa Waters, called the Bill “a huge step in the right direction” and said that “the Greens have been calling for paid family and domestic violence leave for years. We know that it helps victims-survivors, who are predominantly women, to escape abusive relationships, protect themselves and their children and rebuild their lives.”

The Bill was also supported by Senator David Pocock (Independent) who told the Senate that “so far this year, 41 women and 31 children have been murdered. Countless more have been subjected to other forms of coercive control, injury, physical, emotional and financial abuse.” Senator Pocock said that “I wish we didn’t need this leave but, unfortunately, for now, we do”, adding that “there is a huge amount more to do.”

 Summing up, the Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Senator Hon. Carol Brown (Australian Labor Party) thanked Senators for their contributions and told the Senate that the government would implement the recommendation of the Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee to undertake an independent review of the provisions of this Bill 18 months after its commencement. Senator Brown said that the review “will assess the effectiveness and scope of the Bill, along with assessing the adequacy of the support and guidance available to businesses to assist with implementation of the Bill.”

During the Committee of the Whole debate, four Government amendments, two Opposition amendments and one amendment from the Jacquie Lambie Network were agreed to. The Bill, as amended, was agreed to and read a third time. The House considered and agreed to the Senate amendments on 27 October. The Bill received royal assent on 9 November 2022.