Keeping tabs on government in Queensland

Notwithstanding the efforts of the MPs on any of parliament’s committees, most people would be hard pressed to name any of the work or outcomes of their deliberations. Some may remember the Gordon Nuttall effort at the Estimates Committee; reports from the Travelsafe Committee regarding new and learner drivers; or even some of the high profile cases contemplated by the Members Ethics and Parliamentary Privileges Committee; but even their greatest supporters would say committee successes have been few and far between.

While their current usefulness in Queensland is limited, a reformed committee system provides an answer to increasing parliamentary scrutiny of the government.

Queensland’s unicameral parliament may be unique in Australia, but it closely resembles our close neighbour New Zealand which also has no upper house. It is to New Zealand we can also look to provide a blueprint for what is widely recognised as the most effective committee system in our region, if not the Commonwealth. It has a system that does provide the review role normally played by an upper house.

Committees should be restructured so that they encompass a number of like portfolios within their jurisdiction. The major political parties base their own parliamentary legislative committees around portfolios, so it makes sense to extend the concept to the parliamentary committees. They could easily encompass the work carried out by the current committees, and be extended to provide real input.

The New Zealand system provides for legislation introduced to the Parliament to be normally referred to the relevant committee immediately after the first reading, before it is debated at all. The committee then reviews the legislation, consults with the Department; public, stakeholder and industry groups, and is able to hold public hearings to enhance their consideration and make recommendations and even suggest amendments. The committees report is debated prior to the second reading debate and a vote proceeds in the Parliament.

A portfolio-based committee could also fulfil the current role of the Estimates Committees, examining the budget for each portfolio. It should also be able to launch inquiries on its own initiative.

With a specialised and increased knowledge of each portfolio, committee members should be able to make a more valuable contribution to the process. Specialist committees such as the Members Ethics and Parliamentary Privileges Committee would remain.

Most importantly however, these changes would provide an increased level of scrutiny and transparency to a system that inherently is open to abuse and corruption. Queensland’s Parliament has experienced significant criticism over the years and major improvements can still be made to it to provide Queenslanders with improved representation.

Whichever political party goes into the coming election promising real and meaningful parliamentary reform will have a policy worthy of support.