Page 3710 - Week 13 - Tuesday, 15 October 1991
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That is not, I think, in dispute by any group concerned. I think it is heartening to note, and it should be put on record, that it is envisaged that there should be some 25 to 30 people on the panel.
The Government has also agreed to an opposition amendment to subclause 58(7). We intend that subclause to read:
Subject to this Part, a member of the Tribunal holds office on the terms and conditions (including remuneration) specified in the instrument of appointment.
The community is concerned that the members of the tribunal are volunteers and will not be paid, and there is no provision for them to be paid at some time in the future. Accordingly, they were keen to see that.
Another factor which was pointed out by the Government Law Office is, I think, very relevant. Under paragraph 58(2)(b), one of the qualifications for a president is that the person has to be enrolled as a barrister, solicitor or legal practitioner of not less than five years' standing. It may well be that the president will be a magistrate. But, in case the president is not a magistrate, the president is going to have to sit a lot and, if that person is a practising lawyer, there may well be some need - I am sure there will be - to give some remuneration. By putting "(including remuneration)" in subclause (7), that will certainly assist if, in fact, the president or acting president is not a magistrate, but is a legal practitioner under paragraph 58(2)(b).
There were further concerns by the community in relation to clause 59 and whether there was need to have an acting president, or a deputy president, or other members, in fact, to be able to take the role of president if the president or, indeed, the acting president, was away. There are provisions for that in another Act - I think, the Acts Interpretation Act - in terms of other members, but the Government has alleviated the problems there by putting in a provision later on for an acting president. This will take up the problem which was there initially in clause 59. Accordingly, that clause now does not cause the problem it did originally.
The Government will introduce amendments to clause 63 to provide for an acting president who will have all the powers of the president and will be able to stand in for the president at any time. That, I think, will alleviate a lot of concerns. There was concern that, for example, if the president was called away for other duties in Canberra - maybe in another room in the same building - there was a need for the acting president to take over. That will be able to be done under clause 63 and that is, indeed, most necessary.
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