House of Assembly Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2) 52 2 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Bills Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous) Amendment Bill RESIDENTIAL TENANCIES (MISCELLANEOUS) AMENDMENT BILL Final Stages Final Stages Consideration in committee of the Legislative Council's alternative amendment. (Continued from 30 April 2013.) The Hon. J.R. RAU House of Assembly The Hon. J.R. RAU: I move: That the Legislative Council's alternative amendment be agreed to. On 21 March 2013 I urged the house to agree to all but one of the amendments made to this bill in the Legislative Council. I returned the bill to the Legislative Council urging members to reconsider the amendments that created clause 5A. Clause 5A of the bill was an amendment moved by the Hon. Mark Parnell incorporating an amendment moved by the Hon. Stephen Wade. It provided for a consultation process for the appointment of all tribunal members. Specifically, the minister would be required to consult with a panel consisting of a nominee of the Law Society of South Australia, the Attorney-General, the House of Assembly, the Legislative Council and the Commissioner for Public Sector Employment before any tribunal member could be appointed or reappointed. I strongly opposed the amendment under clause 5A of the bill in the interests of ensuring that the tribunal's efficiency would not be decreased. The government filed an alternative amendment to replace clause 5A, which provides for an alternative consultation process. The amendment requires the minister to consult with the Law Society of South Australia before appointing the presiding or deputy presiding member of the tribunal. This is considered to be appropriate since both the presiding and deputy presiding members are the only tribunal members required to be legally qualified. Members of the Legislative Council supported this amendment in the interests of preventing the appointment process for tribunal members from becoming unnecessarily complex. I therefore commend the bill to the house without further amendment. Mr GRIFFITHS House of Assembly Mr GRIFFITHS: I recognise that there is a long history to this and that indeed considerable debate has occurred in not only this chamber but in the other place. I spoke to the Hon. Mr Wade this morning and he told me that in the spirit of bipartisanship and in recognition of the need to move this bill forward, the modified amendment proposed does have support from the opposition and I indicate that we will vote for it. Motion carried.