Page 555 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 9 March 2011
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Amendment agreed to.
MS BURCH (Brindabella—Minister for Disability, Housing and Community Services, Minister for Children and Young People, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Multicultural Affairs and Minister for Women) (10.27): I move amendment No 7 circulated in my name [see schedule 1 at page 682].
The bill proposes in section 727J(1) that business may be carried on at a meeting of the committee only if at least three-quarters of members other than the chair are present. Government supports the provision of a quorum but proposes amendment to section 727J(1) that the quorum of meetings be reduced to two-thirds of members. Such an amendment is necessary to ensure that the business of the committee progresses and is not hampered by meetings where a quorum has not yet been reached.
While the importance of these meetings is unlikely to make attendance an issue, the fact that attendance is an individual person who may not delegate these responsibilities to others, as stated in section 727J(2), provides restrictions that may impact on the work of the committee. Furthermore, given the number of committee members, reducing the quorum size will, in fact, only reduce the required membership by one person.
MS HUNTER (Ginninderra—Parliamentary Convenor, ACT Greens) (10.28): The Greens agree to this technical amendment to alter the quorum figure from three-quarters to two-thirds of the membership to be present at each committee meeting. Obviously we hope that as many members as possible will be able to attend. The committee is designed as a multi-disciplinary one that brings a range of different skills and ideas together to analyse the issues. We do, however, accept that this will not always be possible, and we agree with this amendment and see it as a reasonable change.
Amendment agreed to.
MS BURCH (Brindabella—Minister for Disability, Housing and Community Services, Minister for Children and Young People, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Multicultural Affairs and Minister for Women) (10.29): I move amendment No 8 circulated in my name [see schedule 1 at page 682].
The bill at section 727K(1) proposes that each member of the committee other than the chair has a vote and a question is decided by the majority of the members present and voting. Government supports the intention of this section and proposes an amendment at section 727K(3) that, in the case where the votes are equal, the chair has a deciding vote. The purpose of this amendment is to ensure the work of the committee is ongoing. It is not expected that this need will arise, but the inclusion of a provision that enables the management of an impasse is desirable.
The work of the child death review committee will rely on the gathering of information and the maintenance of a register of deaths of children and young people. The register will be the only record of those children who have died prior to
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