LEGAL PROFESSION BILL

Conference

The House of Assembly requested that a conference be granted to it respecting certain amendments to the bill. In the event of a conference being granted, the House of Assembly would be represented at the conference by five managers.

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Police, Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning) (16:24): I move:

That a message be sent to the House of Assembly granting a conference as requested by the house; that the time and place for holding it be the Plaza Room at 9am on Tuesday 11 March 2008; and that the Hons B.V. Finnigan, P. Holloway, R.D. Lawson, M.C. Parnell and S.G. Wade be the managers on the part of this council.

The Hon. R.D. LAWSON (16:25): It is interesting that the House of Assembly should have made this request. An examination of the Hansard record from yesterday indicates that no such request was made at that time when it conventionally should have been undertaken. I noted that this morning on the Notice Paper this issue was not listed for discussion in the House of Assembly.

The Hon. R.I. Lucas: How did they do it?

The Hon. R.D. LAWSON: Apparently, in another place, there was a motion to suspend standing orders to rectify the manifest error that had occurred. It is truly amazing that, in a bill under the control of the supposed first law officer of this state, the correct procedure should not have been adopted. However, we welcome the fact that the government is proposing to have a conference on this issue.

Certainly, speaking from the Liberal Party's point of view, we welcome the opportunity to engage in a process whereby improvements to the bill can be made and some negotiations and discussions can occur about ensuring that the South Australian legal profession comes into the national scheme of professional organisation on 1 July, being the date by which the Law Society has been strongly pressing for the legislation to be introduced in this state.

I regret the fact that the Attorney has on a number of occasions mentioned that the government is not interested in compromise. We believe that the process of having a conference of managers of this kind is for the purpose of exploring compromise and, hopefully, reaching compromise. We will be entering into the process with an open mind and in a positive frame of mind. I urge the Attorney to follow suit.

Motion carried.