Administration Bill 2016

[Legislative Council] 2R – Norfolk Island Administration Bill 2016

Jun 1, 2016

31 May 2016 Legislative Council, NSW Parliament 2nd Reading Speech – Norfolk Island Administration Bill 2016

The Hon. ADAM SEARLE ( 15:13 ): I lead for the Opposition in debate on the Norfolk Island Administration Bill 2016. The Opposition does not support the bill at this time. I move: That the question be amended by omitting “be now read a second time” and inserting instead “be referred to General Purpose Standing Committee No. 1 for inquiry and report.”

In addressing the bill and the amendment we note that in 2015 the Federal Parliament passed legislation that changed the way in which Norfolk Island is administered. The legislation abolished the Legislative Assembly of Norfolk Island from 1 July 2015. New South Wales previously had arrangements with Norfolk Island for the provision of health and education services, but the ambit of this bill is potentially much larger than a simple fee‑for‑service arrangement. The bill provides that New South Wales may enter into arrangements with the Commonwealth for the effective application and administration of the laws enforced on Norfolk Island. Such an arrangement may provide for the exercise of powers by an authority of New South Wales or an employee of New South Wales on or in relation to Norfolk Island.

We note from the second reading speech that education and health services are already supplied to the island’s residents by New South Wales, presumably under an arrangement with the Commonwealth and presumably without the need for legislation. However, as we indicated, this legislation simply provides a blank cheque, as it were, for an arrangement between the State and the Commonwealth. Apart from a bland assertion by the Government that services will be funded by the Commonwealth and result in no net cost for New South Wales, the Government has not provided the Parliament or the wider community with any real sense of the financial arrangements or impacts. The Government also has not outlined the scope of services, although we accept that in the first phase they will be limited to health and education.

The bill provides for a potentially considerable extension of the laws of New South Wales into the lives of the people of Norfolk Island. Norfolk Island has been governed by a mixture of Commonwealth laws and laws made by the island’s Legislative Assembly. Our understanding is that the local laws of Norfolk Island will be replaced through the regulatory power. Effectively, the Federal regulatory capacity will extend the content of at least some New South Wales laws to Norfolk Island and displace the local laws. That will happen without any consultation with the people of Norfolk Island and without their having any right to representation or consultation with the New South Wales Government or Parliament. In circumstances where so much is not known—at least by the Opposition—about the background or content of any negotiations between the Commonwealth, New South Wales and the people of Norfolk Island about these arrangements we are hesitant to support the bill at this stage; hence our proposal that the bill be referred to General Purpose Standing Committee No. 1 as the appropriate committee for inquiry and report. Our view is that such an inquiry should establish the implications of the extension of administration and legislation of New South Wales to Norfolk Island and any safeguards or models of consultation that should be properly considered and introduced if this bill is to proceed. Should the move to establish the inquiry not be supported in this Chamber, the Labor Opposition will not be supporting the legislation. We do not believe it is prudent to support such a potentially wide-ranging extension of our laws and the roles and undertakings of our administrative bodies into another territory without a proper understanding of the potential implications…

FULL TRANSCRIPT at: https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/Han…

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