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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
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Bills

Statutes Amendment (Registered Relationships) Bill

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 16 February 2017.)

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (12:01): I rise to indicate that the opposition does not have a party position in respect of this bill. Of course in our party we do not have an obligation on people to maintain our party position; nevertheless, consistent with our previous position on the primary legislation, which is now the Relationships Register Act passed earlier—

The ACTING SPEAKER (Hon. T.R. Kenyon): Member for Bragg, are you the lead speaker for this?

Ms CHAPMAN: As I was just indicating, the opposition not having a position on this matter, I am neither the lead speaker nor am I going to be presenting a position to the parliament that outlines a party position, as we have determined we will not have one. I simply rise to indicate that, from my perspective, this is essentially a consequential bill to the principal legislation. When the legislation was passed it was to allow for the registration of relationships for couples in a relationship, and therefore demonstrate their status when dealing with other agencies. It was also to allow the recognition of interstate and overseas relationships.

The consequential amendments to a number of other pieces of legislation are outlined in the bill. There was one missing, and that was to deal with the Administration and Probate Act 1919. This matter was brought to the attention of the government by the Law Society. They outlined it had been omitted, obviously illustrating the fact that if it were going to be dealt with when people were alive then at the very least it should transfer after their death and to deal with the treatment of the spouse or domestic partner in the event of an intestacy.

There are a lot of areas—the Wills Act, etc.—that cover this matter, but that smaller group of those who die without a valid will will now be covered, with a foreshadowed amendment by the government to incorporate amendment to the Administration and Probate Act 1919. I have viewed that, and indicate that I will be consenting to the same.

Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (12:04): I rise to speak to the Statutes Amendment (Registered Relationships) Bill 2017. Because it is a conscience vote on our side of the house and to make sure that everyone understands my position I will keep up my consistency. I do not support the bill, but I will not be holding up the house for long.

This bill was introduced by the member for Reynell on 16 February this year. The Relationships Register Act 2016 allows for the registration of relationships for couples in any relationship, thereby demonstrating their status when dealing with other agencies. The act also allows for the recognition of interstate and overseas relationships.

This bill aims to amend current legislative instances where a marriage or domestic partnership is referred to and will amend those references to include a reference to a registered relationship. The bill amends the Family Relationships Act 1975, the Civil Liability Act 1936, the Governors' Pensions Act 1976, the Housing Improvement Act 2016, the Inheritance (Family Provision) Act 1972, the Parliamentary Superannuation Act 1974, the Public Trustee Act 1995, the Southern State Superannuation Act 2009 and the Supreme Court Act 1935.

In her second reading speech on this bill, the member for Reynell talked about the parliament making considerable headway 'in reforming the laws that discriminate against members of our community who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer'. This is the last in a series of bills relating to that group that I am aware of.

Ms Hildyard interjecting:

Mr PEDERICK: Where do I go? It is no surprise that I am conservative and that I represent what I believe is a pretty conservative electorate. There are other opinions in my electorate and they have been voiced to me, which I applaud, because that is what politics is about. If you could please everyone in your community or the state, you would be a miracle person. No-one is going to be able to do that. I appreciate the people who have discussed these bills with me.

I remember having a very robust conversation with a woman who had a transgender child. I appreciated her commentary and at the end of a reasonably lengthy conversation, about half an hour, I said, 'Look, we're just going to have to agree to disagree on some of these matters,' but I was pleased that she made the effort to contact me to put her point of view, as have other people in my electorate, because that is what politics is about. I do worry, though, about this focus on one group of people when there is so much we need to do to make this state a viable place to operate a business and raise young people and to at least be a place where we keep the electricity and the lights on. I am not convinced that we are anywhere close to doing that under the current government.

Quite a bit of angst has been expressed to me at various social functions in regard to this series of legislation and around the Safe Schools program, and concerns have also been raised with me about unisex toilets in schools. I firmly believe that there are likely to be some issues with unisex toilets in schools. I certainly hope there is not but there is a high potential for issues where people claiming to be one gender or the other use it as an excuse to be inside a certain toilet. We will have to wait and see.

One thing we need to do as a society is work with our young people. They can be confused—I think we can all be confused at different stages of our life—but we need to work with young people to make sure that they have a clear path when growing up and do not make rash decisions in their early years that they may regret in the future. I know it is said that this is consequential, but I have not supported the raft of legislation behind this and I do not support it.

Ms HILDYARD (Reynell) (12:10): As I said during the debate in relation to the substantive bill and in relation to this consequential amendments bill, I appreciate that when we come to this place we come with a diversity of views. Whilst we are probably in vehement disagreement about a number of these issues, I absolutely appreciate the way this debate has been conducted in this place. I also appreciate—and the member for Hammond spoke about this—that there have been many people who have come to speak with parliamentarians about these particular issues, both in relation to this bill and others. I am very pleased that so many of those community members have had the opportunity to talk fully and deeply with different members of this parliament. I know that is something they appreciate.

Having their input has certainly assisted us to fully explore the personal impact that these particular issues being debated have on members of the South Australian community. I thank everybody who has participated in this debate and I look forward to the progression of this final bill in relation to the relationships register issues that we have contemplated.

Bill read a second time.

Committee Stage

In committee.

Clauses 1 to 6 passed.

New clause 6A.

Ms HILDYARD: I move:

Amendment No 1 [Hildyard–1]—

Page 4, after line 19—After Part 2 insert:

Part 2A—Amendment of Administration and Probate Act 1919

6A—Amendment of section 4—Interpretation

(1) Section 4, definition of domestic partner—delete the definition and substitute:

domestic partner, in relation to a deceased person, means—

(a) a person declared under the Family Relationships Act 1975 to have been the domestic partner of the deceased as at the date of the deceased person's death; or

(b) a person who was in a registered relationship with the deceased as at the date of the deceased person's death;

(2) Section 4—after the definition of Public Trustee insert:

registered relationship means a relationship that is registered under the Relationships Register Act 2016, and includes a corresponding law registered relationship under that Act;

For clarification, this amendment is simply to add another act, the Administration and Probate Act 1919, to the list of acts that we need to amend to give effect to the Relationships Register Bill.

Amendment carried; new clause inserted.

Remaining clauses (7 to 21) and title passed.

Bill reported with amendment.

Third Reading

Ms HILDYARD (Reynell) (12:15): I move:

That this bill be now read a third time.

Bill read a third time and passed.

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