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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 12 Hansard (21 November) . . Page.. 4037 ..

MR MOORE (continuing):

This amendment is a mirror of the amendment to clause 16 that was agreed to by the Assembly.

Amendment agreed to.

Clause, as amended, agreed to.

Clauses 21 to 24, by leave, taken together, and agreed to.

Clause 25

MR MOORE (9.34): I move:

Page 10, lines 29 and 30, proposed new subsection 234A(3), omit the subsection.

Mr Speaker, the position is quite extraordinary. We have gone through a process of passing a whole series of amendments that strengthen the legislation, on one hand, and now we seek to weaken it, on the other hand. I think it will be weakened in some ways, but at least we should try to get those parts of the legislation which strengthen it through.

The Minister has a power to make regulations. The regulations may reduce the amount of information to be provided in returns under section 231B. These are the returns that are needed to be made by an associated entity. It is those entities that we are now talking about. They have to make a return as set out in the new section 231B that is set out at page 8 - for members' information - of Mr Humphries's Electoral Amendment Bill (No. 3).

I concede that there is the power of disallowance. However, I cannot see why it is that you would want to reduce the conditions that are set out in the legislation, and I would be very interested to hear what possible thought Mr Humphries has for reducing the amount of information under section 231B. In fact, I find it ironic that it actually says "reduce". Not even the regulations may change the amount of information to be provided.

If this part of the legislation is going to pass - and you would think that annual returns by associated entities needed some modification - why only reduce it? If they are going to need some modification, then you might provide more information. I do not quite understand what it is that is behind this, what is on the Minister's mind, which is why I have moved an amendment to omit this subsection.

MR HUMPHRIES (Attorney-General) (9.37): I will explain why I do not support the amendment. Mr Speaker, on the face of it, this is a fairly extraordinary provision. I am not sure whether it is exactly a Henry VIII clause, but it is something very closely akin to it. It says that legislation which sets certain parameters for disclosure is passed, but then a Minister can make a regulation that actually reduces the amount of information which has to be disclosed. That, on the face of it, is a fairly extraordinary provision.

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