Tuesday, 10 September 2024

Committees

Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee

Alert Digest No. 12

Sonja TERPSTRA (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (13:06): Pursuant to section 35 of the Parliamentary Committees Act 2023, I table Alert Digest No. 12 of 2024, including appendices and extracts of proceedings, from the Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee. I move:

That the report be published.

Motion agreed to.

David DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan) (13:07): I move:

That the Council take note of the report.

In doing so, I draw the attention of the Council to issues around section 85 statements, particularly in the Short Stay Levy Bill 2024. The short stay bill is a very concerning bill. It will actually smash Victoria’s tourism industry. It is going to create massive problems across this state. It is going to make Victoria uncompetitive. But the suppression of section 85 rights in that bill is actually concerning. Let us be clear what is being proposed here. The government proposes that what it will do is remove the right to appeal to the Supreme Court on government decisions that are being proposed or government decisions on individual taxpayers. This is the State Revenue Office (SRO) out of control. This is the Treasurer out of control. This is ripping away, tearing away the rights of Victorians to have their case fairly reviewed and fairly looked at in the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court has overarching rights to look at almost anything in this state, and people, whether they are taxpayers or otherwise, have rights to take actions to the Supreme Court under section 85 of the Constitution, and that is being supressed in that particular bill. I am very concerned that there is no clear reason that the government has given for the suppression of those points. The Treasurer seems to be saying, ‘We do this on other things and therefore we should do it on this.’ In my view that is not good enough. It is not good enough to strip away the rights of Victorians, those who would let their property, and for the taxation implications of the government’s new grab for tax and new grab for money to be left unchallenged. I say Victorians should have the right to go to the Supreme Court. I say that the SRO should not be without challenge. I say that the SRO should not be in a position where it has become increasingly like a dog with a bone and you cannot get the bone away from the dog. The SRO is a body that is now bearing down on many people across this state with its taxation approaches, and this bill goes much further. So I urge members to read the Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee report to see the concerns that many may have and to closely read the second-reading speech that the Treasurer has put into the lower house. I think many in this chamber will be concerned when they read that.

Motion agreed to.

Annual Review 2023: Statutory Rules and Legislative Instruments

Sonja TERPSTRA (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (13:10): Pursuant to section 35 of the Parliamentary Committees Act 2003, I table the Annual Review 2023: Statutory Rules and Legislative Instruments, including appendices, from the Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee. I move:

That the report be published.

Motion agreed to.

David DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan) (13:10): I move:

That the Council take note of the report.

In doing so I want to put on record the large amount of work done by the committee staff in this report. This is a comprehensive report of the statutory instruments that have gone through the system. The Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee tries, I think very fairly, to do an even-handed job in looking at the issues that are there with the statutory instruments. Those on the subcommittee work hard, but I particularly want to single out the staff of SARC for the forensic and hard work that they do over a longer period of time. It is worth putting on the record the work that is done over a longer period by those SARC staff, particularly those involved with the scrutiny of the regulatory actions.

Motion agreed to.