Parliamentary Committees

Standing Orders Committee: First Nations Voice

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (17:59): I move:

That the report of the Standing Orders Committee on the First Nations Voice, 2024, be adopted.

I am pleased to bring this report of the Standing Orders Committee in relation to the First Nations Voice before the council before the report is adopted and laid before Her Excellency the Governor for her approval of the changes to the standing orders. Regardless of one's views on the legislation that the report refers to, it is the case that it has been the will of this parliament that the First Nations Voice Act 2023 come into effect, and we need to give effect to that by standing orders to allow certain aspects of that legislation to come into operation. The proposed changes simply give practical effect to those provisions.

Since the act passed in March 2023, the inaugural First Nations Voice elections have been held. There were 113 nominations, which on a pro rata basis is an approximately 2,500 per cent greater number of nominations than were received for the House of Assembly for the last state election. All positions have now been filled for the six regions.

The standing orders that are proposed provide for the presiding members of the State Voice to be able to give an annual address to the joint sittings of both houses of parliament and to address parliament once in either the House of Assembly or the Legislative Council on legislation, and they enable the council or a minister to request that the State Voice provide them with a report or with an address in relation to a matter or a bill. I look forward to seeing these changes come into effect and witnessing the presiding members have their say in this place. I want to thank the members of the Standing Orders Committee for the collegial way in which we have discussed these matters and have arrived at what is before us today.

The Hon. N.J. CENTOFANTI (Leader of the Opposition) (18:02): I rise on behalf of the opposition to briefly speak to the standing orders changes necessitated by the passing of the State First Nations Voice Act, which was introduced by this state Labor government and which passed this parliament without opposition support in February 2023.

The Liberal Party have already placed on the record our position in opposition to the State First Nations Voice, and we have also placed on the record our support for the repeal bill put forward by One Nation. It is a position that we believe is shared by the majority of South Australians, displayed by the failure of the Federal Voice, with more than 64 per cent of South Australians voting no at the referendum and the very low voter turnout at the inaugural First Nations Voice elections.

We have heard some say that the referendum and the State Voice are separate issues and that the referendum was about constitutional change. When the Malinauskas Labor government sought to pass their First Nations Voice Bill, in doing so they also made an amendment to our state's constitution, a fact I think many within our community would be surprised to find out.

We do not support the State Voice, because we believe that another layer of bureaucracy will not equal practical outcomes for Indigenous communities here in South Australia. We also think that one of the fundamental problems with this legislation is that it rests on the notion that parliamentary democracy cannot represent certain minorities. This is simply an attack on parliamentary democracy in principle. Just to be clear, our strong opposition to the State Voice remains.

Nevertheless, this piece of legislation has passed the parliament. When the government passed this legislation, the changes to the way our parliament operates were such that there is now a need to change the standing orders that govern how this place operates. It is with a pragmatic acknowledgement that the Legislative Council is now required to make changes to its standing orders to comply with the legislative requirements of this act that I make this contribution.

It should be noted that the government will likely have the votes required to pass the standing orders changes in the form they would like them to operate; nonetheless, I will place on the record some of the opposition's concerns pertaining to the proposed changes. One such concern is the ability for a minister to request an address or report from the Voice without a resolution of the council. This is completely out of step with the normal practices and procedures of the Legislative Council.

Specifically, there are no other circumstances where a minister can request that the council be addressed on a particular topic, and it be binding. The opposition is firmly of the view that any request for such an address or for representation to be made to the council, as it is with all other matters, should be solely at the discretion of the majority of the members of the Legislative Council.

If a minister is of the view that the council would profit from an address of the Voice, then that minister may prosecute their case in order to persuade a majority of council members to support their attempt to facilitate the desired address and to then vote accordingly. This has been the very long-held convention of the council, that the Legislative Council is its own ultimate authority and is not subject to the will of any individual member. The Liberal Party does not support any proposal that results in the Legislative Council's capacity to be its own supreme authority being altered.

These standing orders in which the minister can request a report or address from the Voice on any legislation also raise the issue of timeliness regarding the passage of legislation. This government has been at pains to communicate to those in this place and to the people of South Australia that the Voice cannot and will not be a block on legislation being passed in either house. While that may have been the intention, these standing orders give no indication on the time required for the Voice to respond to requests nor when the requested report or address would be given. It is of concern that the ambiguity of this change could frustrate the timely passage of legislation, intentionally or not.

Another concern is the dual notification of the same bill and its inconsistency with the act. According to section 39(1), the Clerk of the Legislative Council or House of Assembly, as the case requires, must cause the State First Nations Voice to be given notice of the introduction of each bill in the council or assembly. Given that when a bill is passed through one chamber, the bill is then received by the other chamber, this standing order seems inconsistent with legislative requirements of the State First Nations Voice.

It is also inconsistent Liberal Party values; that is, we do not support the creation of another layer of bureaucracy or paperwork for parliament administration staff that will inevitably arise out of this standing order change. It is important to note that members of this place are not provided with notification by the Clerk nor the government when bills are introduced in this place or the other place. Currently, members of parliament and members of the community alike are able to monitor legislation in parliament by way of the publicly available Notice Paper and Hansard. We fear that, whilst the intention may be noble, this new standing order may create some confusion when members of the First Nations Voice are notified twice of the same bill.

There are a number of concerns we have on these standing order changes. However, we have overarching concerns with the legislation itself. It is important that these concerns are placed on the record, and we hope that the government listens and takes these concerns seriously.

Motion carried.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (18:07): I move:

That the amendment to joint standing order 16 and new standing orders 16A and 16B adopted by the House of Assembly be agreed to and presented to the Governor by the President for approval pursuant to section 55 of the Constitution Act 1934.

Motion carried.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: I move:

That new standing orders 276A, 323A, 323B and 323C be adopted and be presented to the Governor by the President for approval pursuant to section 55 of the Constitution Act 1934.

Motion carried.