This Week in Queensland Parliament – 17.09.19

Queensland Parliament resumes in Brisbane today following a successful regional sitting in Townsville during the first week of September.

No doubt the Palaszczuk Government will spend some time highlighting the success of the Townsville parliamentary sitting and the economic and social benefits it delivered for North Queensland. But the real focus this week will be Queensland’s bushfires and recovery efforts that are well underway. 

The Government has already announced significant support for fire affected residents, not-for-profits, primary producers and small businesses. There are sure to be more announcements to come as the Government starts to ramp up its Get Ready for Summer campaign.

The Premier’s recent trip to Switzerland to support Queensland’s bid to host the 2032 Olympics can also be expected to feature. Naturally, the Government will talk up the success and importance of the Premier’s efforts to secure the Games – as they are entitled to do. From all accounts the Premier and her bi-partisan delegation did an exceptional job of espousing our State’s ability to host such a significant international event. However this won’t stop the Opposition from making a short-sighted attack on the Premier about her initial absence during the bushfire emergency. 

It will also be the Opposition’s first opportunity to directly question the Premier and Deputy Premier about the Crime and Corruption Commission’s decision not to investigate the Deputy Premier over her Woolloongabba investment property and the departure of the Premier’s Chief of Staff. No doubt the Opposition will do its best to keep these issues alive but now that the CCC has made its decision, the priority of Government is clearly on pursing its regional jobs agenda. 

There are three key pieces of legislation on the Agenda, with the most robust debate expected on the Environmental Protection (Great Barrier Reef Protection Measures) and other Legislation Amendment Bill 2019. An overview of the legislation to be debated can be found below.

Environmental Protection (Great Barrier Reef Protection Measures) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2019

·        The primary policy objective of the Bill is to strengthen Great Barrier Reef protection measures to improve the quality of the water entering the Great Barrier Reef.

·        The Bill applies regulation to a broader range of agricultural activities, with amendments to be made to the Environmental Protection Regulation 2008 to support this and to apply additional requirements for other land uses (e.g. sewage treatment, waste disposal, mining activities and land-based aquaculture) that release nutrient and sediments in Reef catchments.

·        The Bill also contains amendments to give effect to the Common Assessment Method for Threatened Species, and amends wildlife classes to be consistent with the method through amendments to the Biodiscovery Act 2004, Fisheries Act 1994, Nature Conservation Act 1992, and the Vegetation Management Act 1999.

Medicines and Poisons Bill 2019

The Health Act is one of the oldest Acts on the statute book. The current framework is difficult

to apply in practice, outdated and unnecessarily prescriptive.

The Medicines & Poisons Bill 2019 repeals and replaces the following Acts & Regulations:

o  Health Act 1937

o  Health (Drugs and Poisons) Regulation 1996

o  Health Regulation 1996

o  Pest Management Act 2001

o  Pest Management Regulation 2003

·        The Medicines & Poisons Bill 2019 streamlines the requirements prescribing medicinal cannabis in Queensland by enabling non-specialist medical practitioners to prescribe it without the need for approval from Queensland Health, eliminating duplication with the Commonwealth approval process.

·        The Medicine and Poisons Bill 2019 ensures Queensland Health is better able to monitor and respond to health risks associated with inappropriate access to and use of, medicines and poisons. For example, the framework minimises the risk that medicines and poisons could be diverted for unlawful purposes by limiting who may supply medicines and poisons

·        Based on evidence of harm to public health, the Medicines and Poisons framework applies to pest management businesses undertaking pest management activities in primary production. This will ensure safety of primary produce. 

 Heavy Vehicle National Law Amendment Bill 2019

·        The Bill implements the final elements of the 2017 decision by the Transport and Infrastructure Council to amend the HVNL to improve the productivity of the road network and freight fleet by increasing allowed volume on certain heavy vehicles where mass is not the constraint.

·        The Bill will make consequential amendments arising from the enactment of the Commonwealth Road Vehicles Standards Act 2018, which will repeal the Motor Vehicle Standards Act 1989

·        All Australian states and territories, except Western Australia and the Northern Territory, are participating jurisdictions for the purposes of the HVNL and have applied the HVNL as a law of each of their jurisdictions.

On Thursday, Parliament will rise until 15 October. With only three more sitting weeks between now and the end of the year there is a lot to get through. No doubt this week will be interesting as always.

For more information about what’s on in Parliament this week, contact Hawker Britton Queensland Director Shayne Sutton on 0410 508 541 or [email protected]