VETERINARY PRACTICE BILL
2020
1341. Hon SIMON O'BRIEN to the Minister for
Agriculture and Food:
I refer to the Veterinary Practice
Bill 2020.
(1) Am I correct
in my presumption that this legislation is so urgent that it had to be
introduced the day before Parliament finishes?
(2) If so, after
the Standing Committee on Uniform Legislation and Statutes Review reports on
this bill on or about 9 January, will the minister insist that Parliament be
recalled to deal with the bill?
(3) If no to (2),
why has the minister introduced the bill?
Hon
ALANNAH MacTIERNAN replied:
I thank the
member for the question.
(1)–(3) This
bill has been kicking around since 2006. If members recall, as I set out in the
second reading speech, there was an agreement in 2006 that we would move
towards mutual recognition. As I also referenced in the second reading speech, in 1995 we entered into an agreement to
change the rules on the ownership of vet practices. This, of course, has
taken some time. Obviously, I think members opposite were in government for
about eight and a half years, and not a lot of progress was made.
When I came into government, a version
of the bill was put up to me. Unfortunately, that version of the bill was not terribly competent, as it turned out.
We had—I would love to have an opportunity to talk about it one day—some
very deep, profound problems with the legal department of the old Department of
Agriculture at that time, which we eventually sorted out. After getting a new
and very professional legal team onto the case and doing detailed work, we have
done it, and we have it! I wanted to make sure that from 2006 to now, now that
we actually have a bill, that I would get it before the house. Hopefully, when
we come back after the next election, this piece of legislation will be ready
to go. Members would have had ample time to review it, and I look forward to
their fulsome support.
Several members interjected.
The PRESIDENT: Order!