Retail and Commercial Leases (Miscellaneous) Amendment Bill

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 12 November 2019.)

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (16:31): I thank honourable members for their contributions to the debate. My understanding from recent discussions is that there is now support for the legislation as it stands without any amendments and I thank honourable members for that indication.

Bill read a second time.

Committee Stage

In committee.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: Can I just indicate that, from recent discussions that have gone on, and I will leave it for the Hon. Mr Darley to indicate in relation to his amendments, I understand that he might not be proceeding with his. I am also indicating that the government is not proceeding with one of its two amendments. We are proceeding with the amendment to clause 5, which, again from recent discussions, I am advised is to be supported by all in the committee. There are two amendments to clause 5. I do not intend to move amendment No. 1 [Treasurer-1], but I will proceed to move amendment No. 1 [Treasurer-2] to clause 5, for the benefit of the committee.

The Hon. J.A. DARLEY: I confirm that I will not be moving my amendments.

The CHAIR: I take it that the Hon. Mr Darley will not be moving amendment No. 4 [Darley-1]. I think that is the one we have.

Clause 1.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: My understanding, and my advice, was that there had been an agreed position in relation to this, but the Leader of the Opposition has just indicated that is possibly not the case in relation to the Labor Party's position. We can explore that, perhaps, when we get to clause 5. If there is no satisfactory answer to the Labor Party's position—that is, as I understand it, that the amendment that I have now indicated the government is not proceeding with is an amendment that the Labor Party wanted to see proceed—if that is the case on confirmation, I will report progress and we will not proceed.

The only reason I have agreed to proceed with this was that I was advised that everyone agreed with everything in relation to these amendments and positions. If that is not an agreed position, if we can get to clause 5 and explore that issue with the Leader of the Opposition and the Labor Party and there is no satisfactory explanation of the position, I will report progress and we will have to adjourn it until next year. I am happy to proceed to clause 5, from the government's viewpoint.

Clause passed.

Clauses 2 to 4 passed.

Clause 5.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: Again, I accept that the Acting Leader of the Opposition has, I assume, been the person on behalf of the Labor Party involved in the discussions on the bill. Perhaps, on advice if she has any, she could indicate what the Labor Party's position was on it because my understanding was that the government was not going to proceed with amendment No. 1. We were going to proceed with amendment No. 2, and my advice was that that had been agreed.

If on confirmation the Labor Party is not in agreement with that then, as I said, I will report progress and we will not proceed any further. I am not sure whether any member—this has not been one that I have handled—can throw any light on the nature of any discussions that might have led to the government not proceeding with amendment No. 1. I am not sure whether the Acting Leader of the Opposition has any advice or whether the Hon. Mr Darley has any knowledge.

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: My understanding was that the government was going to be proceeding with both amendments and that the opposition was going to be supporting both amendments. I am seeking advice as to whether there is any change on that, but there is none that I am aware of. Therefore, perhaps we can just have a couple of minutes to clarify that. If not, we would be supporting that we report progress.

The ACTING CHAIR (Hon. D.G.E. Hood): If it assists the committee, I am informed that the amendments are mutually exclusive, so it would not be appropriate to proceed with both.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: What I propose to do in a moment is I will seek to report progress. I will adjourn it on motion. We can then go through the niceties in terms of the adjournment debate, etc. If the issue is able to be resolved quickly and we go back to the committee and process the bill quickly, we can do that. If it is not able to be processed, we will then adjourn it off until next year. The Acting Leader of the Opposition can be advised by her colleague who is handling the bill and I can be advised by the government as to why it is not proceeding with amendment No.1 as opposed to amendment No. 2. On that basis, I move that progress be reported.

Progress reported; committee to sit again.