Page 3528 - Week 10 - Tuesday, 12 September 2017
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When it comes to the Legislation Act 2001 and the legislation regulation, these amendments are very minor, technical and non-controversial. Perhaps the most interesting of them relates to the unique status of the ACT, which has state and local government functions performed by the one level of government. These amendments remove reference to “by-laws” in the definition of “subordinate law” in section 8 of the Legislation Act. Subordinate laws are laws or rules made by, for example, the executive, under a power given by parliament. By-laws, on the other hand, are typically used by local councils in other contexts and often relate to a particular geographical area, such as the parking rules in a street or suburb. In the ACT no by-laws have been made since self-government. It therefore makes sense to remove reference to them from the territory’s statute books to avoid confusion.
The bill makes some minor technical and administrative amendments to various road transport acts. Primarily these amendments remove or update clauses that are now out of date, duplicated or redundant, or provide clarity as to wording and definitions. Similarly, this bill also makes some very minor amendments to the Utilities Act 2000, which I have some oversight for as Minister for Climate Change and Sustainability, and they provide updated references to the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2008.
Finally, there is also a series of minor corrections to cross-references to other parts of legislation, as well as minor changes to definitions and the removal of outdated transitional provisions. The Greens support this legislation. We believe that these are useful and important tidy-ups to various acts and will make the operation of legislation in the ACT better.
MS CHEYNE (Ginninderra) (11.42): It is safe to say that statute law amendment bills, as I think we have heard already, generally do not invite excitement, and even the bill’s acronym, SLAB, makes you wonder. But they are really important to make sure that our laws are of a high standard, that they are coherent and that they are working in the way that this Assembly intended. That is exactly why I am delighted to speak in support of this bill today.
The SLABs recognise that laws need to be regularly updated in minor ways to keep up with technological and societal changes and to make sure that the ACT’s statute book is coherent. SLABs make uncontroversial and technical changes to legislation to ensure that legislation is consistent. Sometimes this is as simple as omitting “minister” and substituting “Treasurer”. This SLAB is set out in three parts. Schedule 1 contains minor amendments initiated by government directorates and agencies. For example, one amendment concerns everyone’s favourite time of year, as I am sure Mr Hanson will agree: annual reports. The Annual Reports (Government Agencies)—
Mr Hanson: I prefer estimates myself.
MS CHEYNE: True. Estimates is number one, followed closely by annual reports. The Annual Reports (Government Agencies) Act includes a cross-reference to the dictionary definition of “responsible minister” but the cross-referenced section does not contain any definition. This amendment corrects that oversight and updates the cross-reference.
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