Tuesday, 16 November 2021

Committees

Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee

Alert Digest No. 15

Ms WATT (Northern Metropolitan) (12:31): Pursuant to section 35 of the Parliamentary Committees Act 2003, I lay on the table Alert Digest No. 15 of 2021 from the Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee, including appendices. I move:

That the report be published.

Motion agreed to.

Mr DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan—Leader of the Opposition) (12:31): (By leave) I think many in the chamber may wish to seek leave to speak. This is a very important report, and the Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee has got a very important role as a watchdog in this chamber to look after human rights and to ensure that bills that come through this Parliament are scrutinised properly. The opposition wrote to the chair of SARC and sought a full public inquiry, with submissions and hearings, on this bill, and the government has decided to use its numbers on that committee to deny that. The key point here is that the chair decided that they would not go ahead with any inquiry and they would not go ahead with any public submissions, and despite the enormous trespassing on human rights of this pandemic bill, the government has chosen not to conduct a full inquiry.

I say SARC should be having that opportunity. I say SARC has dropped the ball here badly. Forcing the bill through the lower house was just appalling. Refusing to have SARC look at the bill before the Assembly had even had the opportunity of SARC’s approach is just appalling. I say it is fundamentally undemocratic, and I say that SARC needs to lift its game. It needs to become more active. It needs to become more visible. It needs to become more public. It needs to actually properly inquire into these bills, and it cannot continue to sweep the abuses of this government under the carpet. I say that this committee has lost its way, and on this occasion the committee has failed in its duty.

Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (12:33):(By leave) As a member of the Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee I take great offence at Mr Davis’s description of the work we did. But I would also just like to note that the Liberal members of SARC are rarely there. Mr Smith, certainly we have not seen him for quite some time, and Mr Burgess, I would have to note, was relatively silent on this bill. SARC discussed this bill and scrutinised this bill for 2½ hours. The report reflects that scrutiny, and I would suggest that if the opposition wants to play a role in SARC, turn up.