today has the capacity for upward flexibility so that we can do more”. The Leader of the Australian Greens, Senator Bob Browncommented that “it is a great day for Australia. It is a great day for the Barrier Reef, for the Murray-Darling Basin, for Ningaloo, for Kakadu and for this nation's future, and it is a great day for this planet Earth, upon which we all depend and which gives us inspiration, which gives us joy, which gives us happiness and which today we are acknowledging we must return something to”.
The Minister for Finance and Deregulation, Sen. the Hon Penny Wong, MPstated that “today marks the beginning of Australia's clean energy future and in a few moments we will commence voting on a package that delivers for future generations of Australians. This is a historic moment. This is a historic reform, a reform long overdue, a reform which represents a clear divide in politics in this country between those who look to the future and those who are mired in the fear campaigns of today, those who speak to hope and optimism and those who want to drum up fear, those who want action on climate change and those who simply want to deny and oppose. We on this side accept the science. We accept the need to act. We also, like John Howard and Mr Turnbull, accept the advice of economists and accept that putting a price on carbon is the most efficient mechanism to reduce emissions”.
Senate Budget Estimates The Senate Budget Estimates conducted between 17-20 October provided another opportunity for Senators to scrutinize executive government over its performance. The Senate Economics committee, for
example, scrutinized treasury officials over the dangers to the Australian economy posed by the European debt crisis. Senator Cormann sought advice about the risks to the budget of the debt crisis. The treasury noted that the crisis which originated in Greece has spread to other countries including Portugal, Ireland, Italy and Spain. Treasury noted that
in recent days, “both France and Belgium have also seen their funding costs increase from much lower bases, of course”. In relation to the risks to the Australian budget, treasury commented that “there is no question that, were the sovereign debt crisis in Europe to play out and were these problems not dealt with comprehensively by Europe,
that would have serious implications for the global economy and the Australian economy”.
Senator Cormann, however, sought detailed information on how the Australian budget will be impacted on in 2011-12 and 2012-13. At this point, Senator Wong commented that “if you are asking the officials to update the budget figures, that
THIRD READING: AUSTRALIA
Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security Amendment Act 2011
The legislation updates and modernises the operation of the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security Act 1986. The Special Minister of State, Hon. Gary Gray, MP, advised that the act “was originally drafted in response to the Royal Commission on Intelligence and Security conducted by the Honourable Justice Robert Hope in 1983, which raised, amongst various issues, concerns about the capacity of ministers to control effectively some Australian Intelligence Community (AIC) agencies”. Currently, the act allows the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) to undertake preliminary inquiries, but only where a complaint is made to the office.’ The amending legislation will widen the scope to allow the IGIS to undertake preliminary inquiries. The Special Minister of State commented that “the ability to undertake a preliminary inquiry in response to a complaint provides the IGIS with an efficient and cost-effective mechanism to ask an agency for information about a matter, without having to allocate resources to conduct a full investigation”. The legislation addresses a further anomaly in that currently, the IGIS on his or her own motion can conduct inquiries into the effectiveness and appropriateness of the procedures of an agency relating to illegality or propriety of the agency. This power only applies to the Office of National Assessments, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, and the Defence Intelligence Organisation. The legislation will ensure that the IGIS can apply the same approach to the other three intelligence agencies including the Defence Imagery
and Geospatial Organisation, the Defence Signals Directorate, and the Australian Secret Intelligence Service. The legislation does not currently provide for the
IGIS to delegate his or her functions. Therefore, the IGIS must personally exercise the powers of the office which can limit the number of inquiries that can be conducted at any one time. The legislation “allows for the engagement of a suitable person to conduct a major inquiry with access to the full range of powers under the act”.
In addition to these measures, the legislation also “provides the IGIS with the capacity to assist royal commissions at the discretion of the government of the day, while ensuring the effective operation of limitations on any unauthorised release of sensitive intelligence material by current or former IGIS officers to a court, coronial inquiry or royal commission”. The legislation was referred to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee. The committee recommended that the “IGIS Act be amended to include a provision stating that an annual report prepared under subsection 35(1) of the Act must include comments on any matters arising during that year relating to the employment of and delegation of powers to individuals under proposed sections 32 and 32AA of the Act”. This recommendation was agreed to by the Senate. The Shadow Attorney-General, Sen. the Hon. George Brandis, noted that “the act was drafted with the view to ensuring the powers of the IGIS to get highly sensitive information would continue to be very closely held”. Senator Brandis concluded that “the coalition is satisfied that the appropriate safeguards have been preserved, and for that reason we support the bill”.