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This is a Bill, not an Act. For current law, see the Acts databases.
2002
The Parliament of
the
Commonwealth of
Australia
THE
SENATE
Presented and read a first
time
Parliamentary
Commission of Inquiry (Forest Practices) Bill
2002
No. ,
2002
(Senator
Brown)
A Bill for an Act to provide for a
Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry in relation to Forestry Tasmania, and for
related purposes
Contents
A Bill for an Act to provide for a Parliamentary
Commission of Inquiry in relation to Forestry Tasmania, and for related
purposes
The Parliament of Australia enacts:
This Act may be cited as the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry
(Forest Practices) Act 2002.
This Act commences on the day on which it receives the Royal
Assent.
In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears:
Commission means the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry into
Forestry Tasmania established pursuant to this Act.
document includes a thing or article other than a
document.
member means a member of the Commission.
Presiding Member means the member of the Commission holding
an appointment under subsection 4(3).
(1) As soon as practicable, but not later than 15 sitting days of each
House of the Parliament after the commencement of this Act, a Commission, to be
known as the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry into Forestry Tasmania, is to
be appointed.
(2) The Commission is to consist of six members appointed by resolution of
the Senate and by resolution of the House of Representatives after nomination in
accordance with section 5.
(3) The resolution of the Senate and the resolution of the House of
Representatives appointing the members shall appoint one of the members to be
the Presiding Member.
(1) The Commission is to consist of six members nominated by the President
of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
(2) The Presiding Member is to be a person who has had demonstrable
experience and success in the conduct of public inquiries into complicated
issues.
(3) The members of the Commission (but not necessarily the Presiding
Member) are to be persons of acknowledged expertise such that the Commission as
a whole has expertise in all of the following:
(a) financial management; and
(b) environmental management; and
(c) administrative law; and
(d) present and future challenges to Australia’s natural environment
and the global environment, and strategies for meeting those challenges;
and
(e) the attitudes and opinions of Australians concerned about forestry
operations.
(4) The performance of a function or the exercise of a power of the
Commission is not affected by reason only of there being a vacancy or vacancies
in the membership of the Commission.
(1) The Presiding Member is to preside at all meetings at which he or she
is present.
(2) If the Presiding Member is not present at a meeting, the members
present are to elect one of their number to preside at that meeting.
Where a vacancy occurs in the membership of the Commission, a nomination
by the nominator of the vacating member shall be made in accordance with
section 5 as soon as practicable.
(1) The Commission is to inquire into the matters set out in the terms of
reference contained in the Schedule.
(2) The terms of reference may be altered at any time by a resolution
agreed to by both Houses of the Parliament.
(1) The Commission must, unless it considers that the circumstances
require otherwise, conduct the whole of its inquiry in public.
(2) The Commission must conduct its inquiry as quickly as a proper
consideration of the matters before the Commission permits.
(3) The Commission may publish any of its documents and evidence and a
daily transcript shall be published of public proceedings of the
Commission.
(1) The Commission must provide its report and a full transcript of
evidence taken by it to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House
of Representatives.
(2) The President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of
Representatives must, as soon as practicable after they receive the report of
the Commission and the transcript of evidence, cause the report and the
transcript to be laid before the Senate and the House of
Representatives.
(3) The report under subsection (1) is to be made on or before
16 May 2003, unless that date is extended by a resolution of each House of
the Parliament.
(4) The Commission may at any time submit to both Presiding Officers an
interim report and such report must be dealt with in accordance with
subsection (2).
(1) Subject to subsection (2), questions arising before the
Commission are to be decided in accordance with the opinion of a majority of the
members.
(2) The quorum of the Commission is three members.
(3) Where the vote on a question before the Commission is equally divided,
the Presiding Member, or in his or her absence, the member elected to preside at
a meeting, has a casting vote.
(1) The Commission may summon a person to appear before it at a hearing to
give evidence and to produce such documents (if any) as are referred to in the
summons.
(2) The Commission may require a person appearing at a hearing to produce
a document.
(3) The Commission may, at a hearing, take evidence on oath or affirmation
and, for that purpose:
(a) a member may require a person appearing at a hearing to give evidence
either to take an oath or to make an affirmation in a form approved by the
Presiding Member; and
(b) a member, or a person who is an authorised person in relation to the
Commission, may administer an oath or affirmation to a person so appearing at
the hearing.
(4) In this section, a reference to a person who is an authorised person
in relation to the Commission is a reference to a person authorised in writing,
or a person included in a class of persons authorised in writing, for the
purposes of this section by the Presiding Member.
(1) For the purposes of its inquiry, the Commission may hold
hearings.
(2) Hearings before the Commission may be held at such places within
Australia as the Commission determines.
(3) The Presiding Member must preside at a hearing before the
Commission.
(1) The Commission, a member or a person who is an authorised person in
relation to the Commission may:
(a) inspect any documents produced before, or delivered to, the
Commission; and
(b) retain the documents for so long as is reasonably necessary for the
purposes of the Commission’s inquiry; and
(c) in the case of documents produced before, or delivered to, the
Commission,make copies of matter contained
in the documents, being matter that is relevant to the Commission’s
inquiry.
(2) Where the retention of a document by the Commission ceases to be
reasonably necessary for the purposes of the Commission’s inquiry, the
Commission must, if a person who appears to the Commission to be entitled to the
document so requests, cause the document to be delivered to that
person.
(3) In subsection (1), a reference to a person who is an authorised
person in relation to the Commission is a reference to a person authorised in
writing for the purposes of that subsection by the Presiding
Member.
(1) A member is to be paid such remuneration as is determined by the
Remuneration Tribunal but if no determination of that remuneration is in
operation the member shall be paid such remuneration as is prescribed.
(2) A member is to be paid such allowances as are prescribed.
(3) This section has effect subject to the Remuneration Tribunal Act
1973.
(1) Subject to subsection (2), the staff of the Commission are to be
persons made available to the Commission by the President of the Senate and the
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
(2) The President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of
Representatives may arrange with the Secretary of a Department of the Australian
Public Service or the Australian Parliamentary Service for the services of
officers or employees in the Department to be made available to the
Commission.
(3) While a person is performing services for the Commission pursuant to
an arrangement under this section, that person must perform his or her functions
and duties in accordance with the directions of the Presiding Member and not
otherwise.
(1) A member has, in the performance of the functions or the exercise of
the powers of a member, the same protection and immunity as a Justice of the
High Court.
(2) Subject to this Act, a person summoned to attend or appearing before
the Commission as a witness has the same protection as a witness in proceedings
in the High Court.
(3) No action, civil or criminal, lies against a person in respect of the
publication of a document under subsection 9(3).
(1) A person who is appearing or is about to appear, or a person who is
entitled to appear, before the Commission may make an application to the
President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives for the
provision of legal or financial assistance under this section in respect of the
appearance of the person.
(2) Where an application is made by a person under subsection (1),
the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives may,
if they are satisfied that:
(a) it would involve substantial hardship to the person to refuse the
application; or
(b) the circumstances of the case are of such a nature that the
application should be granted;
authorise the provision by the Commonwealth to that person, either
unconditionally or subject to such conditions as the President and the Speaker
determine, of such legal or financial assistance in respect of the appearance of
that person before the Commission as the President and the Speaker
determine.
A witness appearing before the Commission is to be paid by the
Commonwealth, in respect of the expenses of the attendance of the witness, an
amount authorised in accordance with the prescribed scale or, if there is no
prescribed scale, such amount as the Commission determines.
(1) A person served, as prescribed, with a summons to appear as a witness
at a hearing before the Commission must not, without reasonable
excuse:
(a) fail to attend as required by the summons; or
(b) fail to attend from day to day, unless excused or released from
further attendance by the Commission.
Penalty: $3,000 or imprisonment for 6 months.
(2) A person appearing as a witness at a hearing before the Commission
must not, without reasonable excuse, refuse or fail to produce a document that
the person was required to produce by a summons under this Act served on the
person as prescribed or that the person was required to produce by the Presiding
Member.
Penalty: $3,000 or imprisonment for 6 months.
(3) It is a defence to a prosecution for an offence against
subsection (2) constituted by a refusal or failure to produce a document to
the Commission that the document was not relevant to the matter into which the
Commission was inquiring.
A person appearing as a witness at a hearing before the Commission must
not, without reasonable excuse:
(a) when required pursuant to subsection 12(3) either to take an oath or
make an affirmation,refuse or fail to comply
with the requirement; or
(b) refuse or fail to answer a question that the person is required to
answer by the Presiding Member.
Penalty: $3,000 or imprisonment for 6 months.
Where a person has on any day done or omitted to do something, being an
act or omission that amounts to an offence against this Part, and the person
does or omits to do the same thing in relation to a hearing of the Commission
held on some other day, then each such act or omission constitutes a separate
offence.
A person must not, at a hearing before the Commission, knowingly give
evidence that is false or misleading with respect to any matter, being a matter
that is material to the inquiry being made by the Commission.
Penalty: $30,000 or imprisonment for 5 years.
(1) A person must not use, cause, inflict, or procure any violence,
punishment, damage, loss or disadvantage to a person because the person appeared
as a witness before the Commission or because of any evidence given by the
person before the Commission.
Penalty: $30,000 or imprisonment for 5 years.
(2) An employer must not dismiss an employee from employment or prejudice
an employee in employment because the employee appeared as a witness before the
Commission.
Penalty: $30,000 or imprisonment for 5 years.
A person must not wilfully prevent, or wilfully endeavour to prevent, a
person who has been summoned to attend as a witness before the Commission from
so attending as a witness or from producing anything in evidence in accordance
with the summons.
Penalty: $6,000 or imprisonment for 1 year.
A person who:
(a) gives, confers, or procures, or promises or offers to give or confer,
or to procure or attempt to procure, any property or benefit of any kind to,
upon, or for, any person, upon any agreement or understanding that any person
called or to be called as a witness before the Commission will give false
testimony or withhold true testimony; or
(b) attempts by any means to induce a person called or to be called as a
witness before the Commission to give false testimony or to withhold true
testimony; or
(c) asks, receives or obtains, or agrees or attempts to receive or obtain,
any property or benefit of any kind, whether for the person or for any other
person, upon any agreement or understanding that any person will as a witness
before the Commission give false testimony or withhold true testimony;
is guilty of an offence.
Penalty: $30,000 or imprisonment for 5 years.
A person who practises any fraud or deceit, or knowingly makes or
exhibits any false statement, representation, token, or writing, to any person
called or to be called as a witness before the Commission with intent to affect
the testimony of that person as a witness is guilty of an offence.
Penalty: $12,000 or imprisonment for 2 years.
A person must not:
(a) wilfully insult or disturb the Commission; or
(b) interrupt the proceedings of the Commission; or
(c) use insulting language towards the Commission; or
(d) make any statement that is false and defamatory of the Commission;
or
(e) commit any wilful contempt of the Commission.
Penalty: $6,000 or imprisonment for 1 year.
The remuneration and allowances of members and any other expenses
occasioned by the operation of this Act are to be paid out of money appropriated
by the Parliament for the purpose.
The Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with this
Act, prescribing matters:
(a) required or permitted by this Act to be prescribed; or
(b) necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving
effect to this Act.
Section 8(1)
In accordance with the constitutional authority of the Commonwealth in
relation to Regional Forestry Agreements and the licensing and export of
forestry products, the Commission is to investigate the following:
(1) The financial management of Forestry Tasmania, including:
(a) the reasons for its poor financial performance;
(b) the extent of the ongoing benefit it is receiving from public funding
through the Regional Forest Agreement, Helsham package, Commonwealth softwood
loans write-off, write-off of accumulated debt in 1991 and any other
sources;
(c) the terms of and reasons for the recent $14 million borrowing which
greatly exceeds borrowing disclosed in the annual reports for the five years to
1999/2000;
(d) assessment of the financial performance of each major activity,
including wood production in native forests, wood production in plantations and
non-wood production activities;
(e) the appropriateness of the level of remuneration of senior management
and the board;
(f) current employment practices, including the use of casual and contract
labour and replacement of awards with workplace agreements;
(g) the performance of the Tassie Trees Trust, whether its prospectuses
meet the standards required of prospectuses covered by corporations laws, and
whether it is likely to achieve the returns projected in its
prospectuses.
(2) The independence, adequacy and effectiveness of the regulatory system
and its enforcement with particular attention to:
(a) the relationships between Forestry Tasmania, the Forest Practices
Board, the Forest Practices Advisory Council, Private Forests Tasmania, the
Forest Industries Association of Tasmania, Timber Communities Australia Inc.
(Tasmanian Branch) and Gunns Limited, Boral Limited, North Limited and any other
relevant entities or individuals;
(b) the nature and extent of conflicts of interest that may influence or
be perceived to influence individuals, companies or agencies in the system of
scientific assessment and advice, regulation and enforcement;
(c) the remuneration, appointment processes and qualifications of Forest
Practices Board staff, Forest Practices Officers and members of the Forest
Practices Advisory Council;
(d) whether the Forest Practices Code is capable of providing reasonable
protection to the environment, including whether it is capable of being
enforced, whether penalties are adequate, and whether it is audited
appropriately;
(e) whether the Forest Practices Code is administered in an independent,
transparent and accountable manner, including whether complaints about alleged
breaches have been ignored, suppressed, not adequately addressed or dealt with
improperly;
(f) whether the allocation of logs, licences, coupes and other rights, and
the grading and pricing of logs, is implemented in an independent, transparent
and accountable manner and particularly whether small operators are
discriminated against;
(g) the adequacy of auditing and accounting measures used to establish
whether Forestry Tasmania and its codes of practice conform to environmental
best practice.
(3) The extent to which Forestry Tasmania is exempt from state and federal
legislation and whether this is appropriate.
(4) Whether a culture of cronyism is compromising the independence and
integrity of the management of Tasmania’s forests and wood products
industry, including:
(a) the relationships between Forestry Tasmania, the Forest Practices
Board, the Forest Practices Advisory Council, Private Forests Tasmania, the
Forest Industries Association of Tasmania, Timber Communities Australia Inc.
(Tasmanian Branch), Gunns Limited, the Department of State Development, the
Department of Infrastructure Energy and Resources, the Department of Primary
Industries, Water and Environment and any other relevant entities or
individuals;
(b) the nature and extent of conflicts of interest that may influence or
be perceived to influence individuals, companies or agencies in the performance
of their roles;
(c) whether and how influences of a political nature have been brought to
bear on the management of Tasmania’s forests and wood products
industry.
(5) Any other matters that are relevant and necessary to make
recommendations about the future management of Tasmania’s forests and wood
products industry.
(6) Taking into account findings under terms of reference (1) to (5), to
recommend any measures, including legislative, institutional and administrative
changes, necessary to improve the integrity, independence, accountability and
good management of Tasmania’s forests and wood products
industry.