PARLIAMENTARY REPORT
Parliament and their committees fall within the broad definition of “a person acting judicially”. The Bill raised issues regarding both the clarity of language required to apply legislation to parliamentary proceedings and the desirability of regulating parliamentary proceedings in the same manner (and by the very same provisions) that courts and tribunals are regulated. It is significant that although the Bill was based on national model “shield” laws, its purported application to parliamentary proceedings was unique to Western Australia. The Bill was referred to
the Standing Committee on Procedure and Privileges and was the subject of a number of legal opinions from the State Counsel, Mr George Tannin, SC, and prominent barrister, Mr Bret Walker, SC. The government subsequently amended the Bill to clearly remove any application to parliamentary proceedings. The Legislative Council currently has before it a draft standing order that seeks to implement the broad policy aim of providing some protection to journalists who appear as witnesses in the Council’s proceedings, while preventing any impact on parliamentary privilege or exposing such proceedings to the possibility of judicial review. The Criminal Investigation
(Covert Powers) Bill was the second Bill that appeared to adversely impact on parliamentary privilege. Again, it effectively sought to regulate parliamentary proceedings in the same manner as court proceedings. The Bill expressly defined “court” to include any committee or other body established by the Parliament of Western Australia. The Bill had the policy aim of ensuring that the identities of certain participants in covert investigation activities were not disclosed by their involvement
AUSTRALIA
as witnesses in any “court” proceedings. The Bill had implications for parliamentary committees, particularly those investigating the misconduct of Members or matters of privilege generally.
Again, although the Bill was based on a national model law, the Western Australian government had introduced unique provisions that purported to apply the Bill to parliamentary committee proceedings. Interestingly, the Bill only purported to apply to committee proceedings and not to proceedings in the House (where such disclosures would appear to be just as likely to occur). The Clerk of the Legislative Council obtained legal advice from Mr Walker which indicated that parliamentary Members and staff could find themselves subject to criminal prosecution under the enacted Bill for disclosures during or arising from committee proceedings. The Bill was subsequently heavily amended by the government so as to clearly separate those provisions relating to parliamentary committee proceedings from those applying to courts and tribunals. The criminal offence
provision relating to disclosures was also amended to exempt parliamentary proceedings from its operation.
First Aboriginal Chief Minister The first Aboriginal person to become a state or territory Leader in Australia became Chief Minister in the Northern Territory on 13 March.
Hon. Adam Giles, MLA, who had been Transport Minister, replaced Hon. Terry Mills, MLA, following a caucus vote among the ruling Country Liberal Party Members. The leadership change
occurred seven months after the Country Liberal Party came into office at the August 2012 election
146 | The Parliamentarian | 2013: Issue Two
by winning 16 of the 25 Legislative Assembly seats. The Australian Labor Party has eight seats and there is one independent in the Legislative Assembly. In Victoria, a leadership
change also took place when Premier Hon. Ted Baillieu, MP, resigned and was replaced by Hon. Dr Denis Napthine, MP. Dr Napthine became Premier on 6 March. He was elected by the Liberal Party after Mr Baillieu resigned the leadership two and a half years after being elected Premier.
Dr Napthine has been a member of the Victorian Parliament since 1988. He represented the electorate of Portland until it was abolished in the 2002 redistribution, and since 2002 he has been the Member for South-West Coast. Before being elected to office, he worked as a practicing veterinarian and in the Department of Agriculture. Dr Napthine has led the
Victorian Liberal Party before, as Opposition Leader after the 1999 election, until he was succeeded as Opposition Leader by Hon. Robert Doyle, MP, and then Mr Baillieu. He has been responsible for a range of portfolios in opposition and in government. In the current Liberal-Nationals government he has been Minister for Ports, Racing, Regional Cities and Major Projects. On becoming Premier, Dr Napthine said “Ted Baillieu certainly has served the state very well. He has served the Liberal party extraordinarily well and he can be very, very proud of his achievements. I am honoured and proud to say that he is not just a colleague, he is a great friend. And I want to pay tribute to Ted, Robin and his family. “It is my task to build on
the great work and the great foundation that Ted Baillieu and his team provided for this government — to build on the task where we have delivered a sound economic management, a
triple A status and it is one of the only states and territories that has triple A status and maintained that status”.
Dr Napthine leads a minority government after a Liberal MP left the party to sit as an independent. The Liberals have 34 seats in the Assembly and the Nationals 10 to Labor’s 43 with one independent. In the Legislative Council, the Liberals have 18 seats, the Nationals three, Labor 15 and the Greens three.
Liberal Party secures majority vote in Western Australia The state general election took place on 9 March 2013 after the Parliament had been prorogued on 14 December 2012. It was the first election to take place pursuant to amendments to the electoral legislation establishing fixed four-year terms for each Parliament. The Liberal-National alliance government was returned at the election. With an almost nine per-
cent state-wide swing in voting towards it, the Liberal Party secured enough seats to have a majority in its own right in the Legislative Assembly (31 of the 59 seats), whereas in the previous Parliament it had been part of a minority government that was reliant on the support of both the National Party and independents. The Liberal Party, however,
still requires the support of the National Party in the 36-seat Legislative Council. Prior to the election, Premier Hon. Colin Barnett, MLA, had reaffirmed the alliance between the two parties. Following the election both the National Party (five seats) and the Australian Labor Party (11 seats) have maintained their numbers in the Legislative Council. The Greens WA, however, lost two of their four seats, with one seat being picked up by the Liberal Party (17 seats) and one seat going to the recently formed Shooters and Fishers Party.
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