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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2008-05-01 Daily Xml
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STANDING COMMITTEE OF ATTORNEYS-GENERAL

The Hon. P.L. WHITE (Taylor) (14:49): Can the Attorney-General inform the house about the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General meeting that was held in the Barossa Valley recently?

Mr Venning: I was there.

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON (Croydon—Attorney-General, Minister for Justice, Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (14:50): As the member for Schubert said, he was there. South Australia hosted the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General in its first meeting since the election of the Rudd Labor government. Members comprising the commonwealth, state and territory attorneys-general, the commonwealth Minister for Home Affairs and the Associate Justice Minister of New Zealand, and ministers from Norfolk Island, held discussions on more than 30 matters.

The Hon. M.D. Rann: That's Clayton Cosgrove.

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON: Yes; Clayton Cosgrove, a black Irishman from New Zealand.

The Hon. K.O. Foley: Norfolk Island is not a state.

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON: No; it is one of Australia's federal territories, I believe.

The Hon. K.O. Foley: Norfolk Island gets to sit at SCAG?

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON: Yes.

The Hon. K.O. Foley: That's outrageous.

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON: It wasn't so bad when we held SCAG there. We held discussions on more than 30 matters of substantive legal reform for all jurisdictions.

Mr Venning interjecting:

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON: That's right; Donald McDonald was there, and he wrote me a lovely handwritten note thanking me for the hospitality. We had a nice conversation outside Chateau Tanunda when I noticed he was reading one of my favourite publications, The Spectator. The committee had high hopes that successful negotiations after the COAG meeting, held only days earlier, was able to break the stalemate over the future of the Murray-Darling River system.

Rather than be bogged down by party politics, progress was made on items including the interstate enforcement of fines, a national electronic conveyancing system and a national register of suppression orders. Members recognised the unique opportunity to reinvigorate the legal reform process on a national scale without the former commonwealth attorney-general. A fresh idea from the Eastern States was to develop an exchange program between judicial officers of state and territory courts.

As the host of the meeting, South Australia was given an opportunity to showcase some of our own justice initiatives. Presentations were given on our victims of crime law reforms and our native title claim resolution initiatives. The presentation on our proposed laws to tackle criminal bikie gangs was greeted with shock and awe by members. The blood drained from their faces as they realised that this law will lead to the relocation of so many members and associates of outlaw motorcycle gangs to other states and territories.

Mr Pederick interjecting:

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON: In relation to the interjection by the member for Hammond, it would be strange indeed if anyone in South Australia were arrested in respect of legislation that had not yet passed the parliament. Is he suggesting that people should be taken into custody forthwith, before the legislation passes? Is that his suggestion?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON: The member for Waite, who has turned his seat into a marginal for the first time in its history, suggests that our outlaw motorcycle gang members be driven out of Adelaide to Andamooka.

The Hon. K.O. Foley: Out of South Australia.

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON: Out of South Australia, to Andamooka. I wonder whether he will be campaigning in the great seat of Giles at Andamooka during the next campaign. I think not. The conference was a success, and I am pleased that an important meeting such as this was held in a regional area rather than meetings being confined to capital cities. Of course, our government is a government for regional South Australia, containing two ministers from regional South Australia.

Mr Hamilton-Smith: They'll pay the price.

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON: They'll pay the price, will they? At the moment, they are two-term ministers looking at at least one of them being a three-term minister. Anyway, we will see. The Barossa Valley region afforded the conference an opportunity to give a small boost to the local economy, and allowed the members to sample the local cuisine and full bodied shiraz, as well as meet some of the South Australian wine makers who were speakers at the official dinner. No doubt this left many interstate attorneys-general envious of my jurisdiction.

The Hon. K.O. Foley: Were you there, Ivan?

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON: Ivan was there. I was also glad to have been joined by the member for Schubert, who attended part of the meeting on Friday. I understand that he had the opportunity to renew some interstate acquaintances with an Attorney-General whom the member had come to know through his competing in parliamentary bowls tournaments. Parliamentary bowls is not the death sentence to a career in politics that some think it is; you can go on to become Attorney-General after participating in parliamentary bowls.

Mrs Redmond: Exactly.

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON: And the member for Heysen chimes in, 'Exactly'—there is a big future for that bowler. SCAG will meet again in July, after which—

The Hon. M.D. Rann: On Norfolk Island?

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON: Not on Norfolk Island. This time we will be meeting somewhere about an hour from Christchurch in the snow, after which I will again be pleased to take members' questions on this important regular meeting of first law officers.

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