Why Oppose the Legislation Amendment Bill
This is not “legislative tidying up” — it is an omnibus power grab. The bill bundles multiple law changes into one package, bypassing proper scrutiny of each measure. It centralises control in the Attorney-General, expands exemptions, absolves the Parliamentary Counsel Office (PCO) of responsibility, introduces fees and levies that risk limiting access, and shifts substantive law into secondary instruments. The result: Parliament sidelined, communities disempowered, and law treated as an executive-controlled product rather than a democratic safeguard.
Here’s what the bill really does, why it’s dangerous, and how it converts open law-making into a top-down system of exemptions, costs, and reduced accountability.
What This Bill Really Does
- Centralises executive power: Gives the Attorney-General sweeping authority over how legislation is drafted, published, and managed (ss.83AB–83AC).
- Bypasses scrutiny: Bundles unrelated changes together and exempts major categories of secondary legislation (House resolutions, Royal prerogative instruments, defence, aviation, telecoms, biosecurity) from presentation to Parliament (s.114; Schedule 3).
- Monetises access to law: Introduces fees, levies, and cost recovery for PCO functions (ss.148–151), with power to refuse service until payment is made.
- Removes accountability: New s.146A absolves the PCO of liability for errors in agency-provided material, undermining the legislation website’s reliability as the authoritative source of law.
- Expands secondary law: Shifts penalties, compliance duties, and detailed rules into secondary instruments under widened revision powers (s.96), reducing parliamentary debate.
- Creates legal uncertainty: Complex rules on publication, revocation, and commencement (ss.77–77A; Schedule 1) mean citizens may not know when laws apply.
- Outsources core functions: Amends s.133 to allow sensitive drafting and publication work to be handled by contractors and secondees outside direct public accountability.
- Masks with diversions: Cosmetic changes (e.g. redefining the Sovereign’s birthday, s.16A) distract from deeper structural power shifts.
Why This Threatens Democratic Safeguards
- Executive overreach: Centralises decision-making in the Attorney-General at the expense of Parliament’s independence.
- Reduced oversight: Exemptions allow large swathes of law to bypass scrutiny and disallowance.
- Hidden taxation: Fees and levies impose costs on agencies and the public, embedding pay-to-play law-making.
- Legal confusion: Revocation deadlines and commencement delays undermine clarity and certainty of the law.
- Transparency gaps: Security and “commercial sensitivity” carve-outs reduce public access to the law.
- Inequality of access: A digital-first approach sidelines communities without reliable internet.
The Bigger Pattern
Bundle, exempt, monetise, outsource. Call it “modernisation.” In reality, the bill empowers the executive, weakens Parliament, hides law behind exemptions, treats accuracy as optional, and imposes financial barriers. The pattern is clear: concentrate power, reduce scrutiny, and let critical changes slip through under cover of an omnibus package.
If You Care About Democracy and Accountability
This bill is not harmless housekeeping — it is structural erosion. It converts legislation from a democratic safeguard into an executive convenience, riddled with exemptions, costs, and loopholes.
If you believe every law deserves full parliamentary oversight…
If you believe legislation must remain accurate, accessible, and accountable…
If you believe democracy cannot survive when law hides behind exemptions and fees…
Then now is the time to oppose this bill.
“When many doors are opened at once, watch what slips through.” — Ukes Baha