The Acts That Matter
How well did our federal Parliament perform this year? Tim James assesses the quality (not quantity) of the legislation passed.
One measure of an effective government, according to the left, is the number of bills passed per day in office. Julia Gillard was lauded for – and indeed boasted about – passing a new piece of legislation almost every two days in office (June 2010-June2013), the highest rate in our federal history.
“Someone that (sic) gets a lot of legislation passed might be considered to be good at getting things done,” The Guardian said.
But Gillard’s legislative agenda included the NBN, the carbon tax she promised she would never introduce and the unfunded NDIS, so quantity is hardly an appropriate index of achievement.
You won’t hear ministers in this Government conveying such a blunt, unrepresentative view. The real measures of legislative success are the quality, integrity, timeliness and effect of legislation passed, and how easily it was passed by Parliament.
This first half of this year’s legislative schedule was overshadowed by the federal election. In the second half of the year, the returned Government passed 59 pieces of legislation (from 110 for the year).
Numbers were tight both before and after the election, requiring careful negotiations with the cross-bench in the upper house.
In February, legislation was passed providing a one-off energy assistance payment to millions of Australians.
In April, the Parliament passed into law the measures in the 2019-20 Federal Budget - which was one of the most significant budgets in recent times, and clearly had a strong bearing on the election outcome. This included 28 Bills passing through the Senate on one day in early April. Also in April, laws creating new offences for the sharing of abhorrent violent material came into effect, partly in response to the events of the tragic Christchurch shooting.
Post-election in July, the Government legislated one of largest pieces of tax reform in Australian history – a $158 billion package. One of the many pieces of legislation passed in this package was the aptly named Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Relief So Working Australians Keep More Of Their Money) Act. It surely takes the prize for the best named bill of 2019.
Also in July, the Consumer Data Right laws were passed to provide Australians with choice and control over the use of their data. It also passed laws implementing a number of recommendations from the Royal Commission into child sexual abuse. Last but not least in July, new laws stopping foreign fighters from returning to Australia were passed.
In September, new laws protecting farmers and their property from trespass and other offences were passed as well as laws to establish an emergency response fund.
In October, a number of laws in support of farmers suffering the effects of drought were passed, increasing access to allowances and support.
In November, the Governments much awaited “big-stick” energy reforms were passed to uphold competition and drive down prices in the energy sector, despite the best efforts of some as we outlined here.
In December, in one of the more heated debates of the year, the Government repealed the demonstrably flawed Medevac laws. This was a significant victory for the Government at the end of a long year.
These are just some of the significant priorities and positions legislated this year.
There have been many challenges to passing new laws through the Parliament in 2019 yet the Morrison Government has got on with the job and delivered substantial legislation in support of our country, economy and community. Vital laws in such critical areas as terrorism, energy, taxation and drought relief, among others, have been passed. Let us hope the legislative momentum in the second half of this year, and a continuing focus on legislative quality over quantity, continues in 2020.