Queensland Parliament sat from 8 November to 10 November 2022.
Legislation passed this Parliament
The following legislation was passed by the Legislative Assembly:
- Building Units and Group Titles and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2022
- Coal Mining Safety and Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2022
- Betting Tax and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2022
- Appropriation (Parliament) Bill (No.3) 2022
- Appropriation Bill (No.3) 2022
Building Units and Group Titles and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2022
On 21 June 2022, the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Minister for Women and Minister for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence, Shannon Fentiman, introduced the Building Units and Group Titles and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2022.
The Bill was referred to the Legal Affairs and Safety Committee for detailed consideration.
The Bill was passed without amendment on 8 November 2022.
The policy objectives of the Bill are to improve the operation of the Building Units and Group Titles Act 1980 and the Mixed Use Development Act 1993 with a focus on making body corporate governance arrangements fairer for proprietors and provide for effective and consistent enforcement options for gift card requirements under the Australian Consumer Law in Queensland.
The Bill amends the:
- Building Units and Group Titles Act 1980
- Fair Trading Act 1989
- Mixed Use Development Act 1993
Useful resources:
Coal Mining Safety and Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2022
On 12 October 2022, the Minister for Resources, Scott Stewart, introduced the Coal Mining Safety and Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2022.
The Bill was referred to the Transport and Resources Committee for detailed consideration.
The Bill was passed without amendment on 9 November 2022.
The principal objectives of the Bill relate to two Queensland Government priorities:
- Safety and health – to provide for exceptions to direct employment requirements for certain coalmining statutory positions, to address challenges implementing these requirements relating to corporate and operational structures, unplanned short-term absences, economic viability for low-risk operations (exploration activities) and situations where a contractor is substantially responsible for the mine operation
- Resources – to enable implementation of a key action in the draft Queensland Resources Industry Development Plan, as well as several housekeeping amendments to a number of Acts in the Resources portfolio to address operational issues and correct clerical errors.
The Bill also makes the following amendments to the resources Acts:
- Amend the Mineral Resources Act 1989 (MRA) to implement a framework to defer rent for specific critical minerals mining leases.
- Amend the compliance provisions to remove the requirement for resource authority holder agreement to a monetary penalty for non-compliance under the Petroleum and Gas (Production and Safety) Act 2004, the Geothermal Energy Act 2010 (GE Act), and the Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2009 (GHG Act).
- Minor amendments to reflect the consequential renumbering of provisions in the GE Act and the GHG Act and to correct a provision heading and an error in the Mineral and Energy Resources (Common Provisions) Act 2014.
The Bill amends the:
- Coal Mining Safety and Health Act 1999
- Geothermal Energy Act 2010
- Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2009
- Mineral and Energy Resources (Common Provisions) Act 2014
- Mineral Resources Regulation 2013
- Petroleum and Gas (Production and Safety) Act 2004
Useful resources:
- Parliamentary report
- Bill
- Explanatory note
- Erratum to explanatory note
- Statement of compatibility
- Explanatory speech
- Committee
Betting Tax and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2022
On 12 October, the Treasurer and Minister for Trade and Investment, Cameron Dick, introduced the Betting Tax and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2022.
The Bill was referred to the Education, Employment and Training Committee for detailed consideration.
The Bill was passed with amendment on 10 November 2022.
The main objective of the Bill is to provide for a more sustainable funding model for Queensland’s racing industry, primarily by amending the Betting Tax Act 2018, from 1 December 2022, to:
- introduce a 5% racing levy in addition to the 15% betting tax rate
- incorporate free bets into the calculation of betting tax, and
- provide for the hypothecation of 80% of annual betting tax revenue to the Racing Queensland Board (Racing Queensland).
The Bill also amends the Payroll Tax Act 1971 to give effect to administrative, machinery and transitional arrangements required to support the mental health levy which was recently established by the Revenue Legislation Amendment Act 2022.
The policy objectives of the amendments of the Bill moved during consideration in detail are to:
- amend the Betting Tax Act 2018 to ensure that betting operators are not entitled to an additional deduction for totalisator bets, which is not available for other types of bets. The amendment ensures equitable treatment of totalisator bets and other types of bets in relation to free bets, and
- amend the Revenue Legislation Amendment Act 2022 to give effect to the Government’s decision not to proceed at this time with the changes to Queensland’s land tax framework to enable the value of interstate landholdings to be accounted for when assessing land tax payable in Queensland (interstate land tax reform).
The Bill amends the:
- Betting Tax Act 2018
- Payroll Tax Act 1971
- Racing Act 2002
- Racing Regulation 2013
Useful resources:
- Parliamentary report
- Bill
- Explanatory note
- Statement of Compatibility
- Explanatory speech
- Committee
- Amendment in Committee – Government agreed
- Amendment in Committee – Explanatory note
- Amendment in Committee – Statement of compatibility
Appropriation (Parliament) Bill (No.3) 2022
On 12 October, the Treasurer and Minister for Trade and Investment, Cameron Dick, introduced the Appropriation (Parliament) Bill (No.3) 2022.
The Bill was referred to the Economics and Governance Committee for detailed consideration.
The Bill was passed without amendment on 10 November 2022.
The purpose of the Appropriation (Parliament) Bill (No.3) 2022 is to authorise a supplementary appropriation for the Legislative Assembly and Parliamentary Service for unforeseen expenditure that occurred in the 2021-22 financial year. The Treasurer has advised that the $2.185 million supplementary appropriation for 2021-22 is related to expenditure from the consolidated fund in excess of the amounts already authorised, in accordance with section 35 of the Financial Accountability Act 2009 (Qld).
The Bill authorises the Treasurer to pay an amount from the consolidated fund for the Legislative Assembly and parliamentary service for the financial year starting 1 July 2021.
Useful resources:
Appropriation Bill (No.3) 2022
On 12 October, the Treasurer and Minister for Trade and Investment, Cameron Dick, introduced the Appropriation Bill (No.3) 2022.
The Bill was referred to the Economics and Governance Committee for detailed consideration.
The Bill was passed without amendment on 10 November 2022.
The purpose of the Appropriation Bill (No.3) 2022 is to authorise a supplementary appropriation for unforeseen expenditure by government departments as set out in Schedule 1 of the Bill, for the 2021-22 financial year. The $2,823,124,000 supplementary appropriation relates to expenditure incurred by 14 of the Queensland Government departments and agencies.
The Bill authorises the Treasurer to pay amounts from the consolidated fund for particular departments for the financial year starting 1 July 2021.
Useful resources:
Subordinate legislation
Subordinate Queensland legislation notified in 2022 is available online.
Subordinate legislation notified on the Queensland legislation website from 31 October to 11 November 2022:
- SL No.151 of 2022: Queensland Veterans’ Council (Postponement) Regulation 2022
- SL No.152 of 2022: Proclamation No.1—Queensland Veterans’ Council Act 2021 (commencing certain provisions)
- SL No. 153 of 2022: Liquor (Pormpuraaw) and Other Legislation Amendment Regulation 2022
- SL No.154 of 2022: Work Health and Safety (Codes of Practice) Amendment Notice 2022
- SL No.155 of 2022: Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal and Other Legislation Amendment Regulation 2022
- SL No.156 of 2022: Major Sports Facilities (Townsville Stadium) Amendment Regulation 2022
- SL No.157 of 2022: Valuation of Land (Fee Exemption) Amendment Regulation 2022
- SL No.158 of 2022: Forestry (State Forests) and Other Legislation Amendment Regulation (No.2) 2022
Queensland Government Gazette
The Queensland Government Gazettes for 2022 are available online.
Parliamentary sitting dates
As indicated on the parliamentary website, the Queensland Parliament is currently scheduled to sit on 29 November to 2 December 2022.
Caiti Betts is a Legal Assistant on the Queensland Law Society Legal Policy team.
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