Commissioner for Kangaroo Island Bill

Committee Stage

In committee (resumed on motion).

Clause 6 as amended passed.

Clauses 7 to 21 passed.

Clause 22.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: My amendments are all consequential, other than my amendment No. 11. I move:

Amendment No 11 [Ridgway–1]—

Page 10, after line 20—After clause 21 insert:

22—Expiry of Act

This Act will expire 4 years after the day on which it comes into operation.

This will have the effect of a sunset clause, if you like, on this bill in that the act will expire four years after the day on which it comes into operation. I think there has been strong support over the years for a whole range of pieces of legislation to have some sunset clauses, not to throw it out but to make sure that the government of the day goes back and reassesses the legislation—in this case that a Kangaroo Island commissioner will deliver the outcomes and the benefits that the government says it will. I think it is a sensible one and it will give those of us who are still here in four years' time a chance to have a look at the legislation and review it. With those few words, I urge members to support my amendment.

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: The government rises to oppose this amendment. It is unacceptable to the government that this action expires four years after it commences operation. I think the opposition is desperately clutching at straws to try to undermine this bill. They have not successfully been able to get rid of it, so now they want to plant little timepieces in there that considerably undermine the long-term effectiveness of this bill. This is a long-term strategy to deliver improvements for the people of Kangaroo Island. This would be greatly hampered and undermined by the looming deadline suggested by this amendment. There are, as I have indicated in this place, some serious challenges—

Members interjecting:

The ACTING CHAIR (Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins): Order! The conversation is not helpful, so the minister has the call.

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: As I have already alluded to—and I know members are well aware of it—there are some significant long-term challenges for Kangaroo Island. We have talked about its population numbers, its distance and the fact that it is an island and the problems around its infrastructure and transportation. They are significant problems that require a long-term strategy to rectify. There is opportunity for the people of Kangaroo Island and other affected parties to write to the minister responsible for the act with suggestions for improvements or to raise any concerns right throughout this bill. We have talked about the need for the commissioner to consult.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: He will be required to consult. He will consult with the local community, so if he is a member of the local community then he is likely to be included in that consultation.

An honourable member: Or a she.

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: Or a she, but it happens to be a him at the moment. We know that the Liberal Party is not friendly to women; it has very few candidates.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: We can say that because the statistics show it quite clearly. The statistics underline, quite clearly, how poor the Liberal Party is at supporting women.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: But, back to the point at hand—the KI commissioner—

Members interjecting:

The ACTING CHAIR (Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins): Order! The Hon. Mr Ridgway is out of order.

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: Back to the real issue at hand, which is the Kangaroo Island commissioner. As I said, right throughout the legislation, the commissioner must consult. So, they will be receiving input and feedback constantly, and any adjustments that need to be made, the commissioner will be able to make them. Alternatively, members of parliament may seek to amend legislation themselves should they be sufficiently concerned with the manner in which it is operating. The Hon. David Ridgway is at liberty to come back into this place any time he so chooses and seek amendments to that legislation if he can demonstrate that it is not working and that he has got a better way to move forward.

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE: No surprise to my colleagues on the other side, I actually was contemplating supporting this—

Honourable members: Hear, hear!

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE: —was contemplating supporting—so, I get you slightly excited for a moment late on a Thursday afternoon. However—

The Hon. J.M.A. Lensink: What deals have you done?

The ACTING CHAIR (Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins): Order!

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE: No, I do not do deals—I do know that the Liberal Party does support women, as do I, and I put that on the public record. But, to come back to this point: at first I thought there was some merit in this, but I went and did quite a lot of work after indicating that I may consider this one, because often we do support these sunset clauses. However, we also did some research as to the amount of money that has not been provided to Kangaroo Island, going right back to when the Troubridge and the Island Seaway were actually pulled from service.

The reality is that tens of millions of dollars have been removed from Kangaroo Island over the years when it comes to both freight subsidies and tourism water gap subsidies. We have now got an opportunity to start making amends there. I said in my second reading speech that we are supporting this because we do expect—and we will be watching what the government do—money to go into infrastructure and additional projects, as well as the fact that they have appropriated or are about to appropriate $1 million or more for the position.

It is not totally unprecedented, by the way. Some of the most successful committees that I worked on when I was in government were where you had ministers that were actually across an issue and sat with formally recognised non-cabinet and non-political people to work through issues. One such issue was domestic violence, as an example, and it worked pretty well. So, I think this model has got to be given a chance.

I contacted some people on the island and I talked to Mayor Jayne Bates, whom I happen to strongly respect for her genuine commitment to the island over a long period of time. She has actually convinced me that this clause is too short, and I agree with her; the reason being that one thing that the island does need now is—

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway: A good government.

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE: Well, it needs a good government, but that is for you guys to work on. The fact of the matter is that, given the government they have got, they have to play the best hand of cards that they can. If this was to only be for four years, the problem is that that then sends a message to the people of Kangaroo Island that this is only temporary, and this is only another short-term bandaid measure. I do not think that is what the island needs right now; I think the island needs absolute confidence that it has, for a foreseeable period of time, a chance to have a commissioner really make a difference.

As I said, it is not only for Kangaroo Island, it is for the whole state, and indeed for the nation. We need more than photographs for Kangaroo Island in federal publications; we need people going to Kangaroo Island and spending their money.

Therefore I leave it this way: I will be supporting the government as it stands and if there is a change of government in four years, and if I am in this place and the Liberals become the government and come to me and say, 'We don't think this is working. We told you Brokenshire that it wouldn't work. You went with the then government and we are now going to withdraw this and we are going to rescind the bill,' then obviously we would have to look at supporting that. But notwithstanding that, at this point in time, I think we need to send a message to the Kangaroo Islanders that this is there for a longer period with the right intent and opportunity to capitalise growth opportunities for the island. So we will be supporting the government.

The Hon. M.C. PARNELL: I guess my reaction to the Hon. David Ridgway's amendment is nice try but no cigar. In fact, not only no cigar, no Kangaroo Island haloumi, or no Ligurian bee honey. I do not believe it is a genuine attempt to make the best deal of this legislation. We know that the community of Kangaroo Island are overwhelmingly in favour of this new role of the commissioner. People are still scratching their heads as to why the member for Finniss has got his undergarments twisted in relation to this.

Putting a clause in here which says the act will automatically come to an end in four years' time is really unnecessary. Yes, in four years' time there will be some experience to guide the future. How well has it worked? What changes might need making, and that is an opportunity for the next parliament to have a think about what to do. If it is working fine then what a waste of parliamentary time to have to reintroduce exactly the same bill to re-establish it. This is not a review clause; this is a sunset clause and this brings it to an end.

I do not think that it adds anything to the legislation. I think the message that the parliament needs to be giving the community of Kangaroo Island is that we are committed to putting in place measures that give them the best possible chance to do as well as they can as a community. The Liberals are giving the impression in this place that if they were to win the next election they would tow Kangaroo Island further out into the Southern Ocean and sink it, and I do not think that that is the message that islanders want to hear, and so, as with the other amendments proposed by the Liberal Party, the Greens will be opposing this one as well.

New clause negatived.

Title passed.

Bill reported without amendment.

Third Reading

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills, Minister for Science and Information Economy, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Business Services and Consumers) (16:43): I move:

That this bill be now read a third time.

The council divided on the third reading:

Ayes 9

Noes 8

Majority 1

Third reading thus carried.