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This is a Bill, not an Act. For current law, see the Acts databases.
Queensland
Parliamentary (Heiner Affair
and Related Matters)
Commission of Inquiry
Bill 2014
Queensland
Parliamentary (Heiner Affair and Related
Matters) Commission of Inquiry Bill 2014
Contents
Page
Part 1 Preliminary
1 Short title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2 Definitions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Part 2 Establishment and operation of commission of inquiry
3 Establishment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
4 Membership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
5 Cessation of membership. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
6 Death, incapacity or resignation of member. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
7 Deciding questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
8 Fees and allowances of members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Part 3 Role of commission of inquiry
9 Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
10 Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Part 4 Proceedings of commission of inquiry
11 Application of Commissions of Inquiry Act 1950 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
12 Consideration of previous investigations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
13 Provision of assistance and information to commission of inquiry 9
14 Claim of privilege not available. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
15 Statement of witness inadmissible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
16 Documents committed to custody of Speaker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Part 5 Other
17 Officers and staff of commission of inquiry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
18 Conduct of inquiry not subject to review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
19 Regulation-making power. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
20 Expiry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Schedule 1 Dictionary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2014
A Bill
for
An Act for the purpose of establishing a parliamentary
commission of inquiry to inquire into the Heiner affair and
related matters
Parliamentary (Heiner Affair and Related Matters) Commission of Inquiry Bill 2014
Part 1 Preliminary
[s 1]
The Parliament of Queensland enacts-- 1
Part 1 Preliminary 2
1 Short title 3
This Act may be cited as the Parliamentary (Heiner Affair 4
and Related Matters) Commission of Inquiry Act 2014. 5
2 Definitions 6
The dictionary in schedule 1 defines particular words used in 7
this Act. 8
Part 2 Establishment and operation of 9
commission of inquiry 10
3 Establishment 11
(1) As soon as reasonably practicable after the commencement, 12
the Legislative Assembly must, by resolution, establish a 13
parliamentary commission of inquiry. 14
(2) The inquiry is to be known as the Parliamentary (Heiner 15
Affair and Related Matters) Commission of Inquiry (the 16
commission of inquiry). 17
4 Membership 18
(1) The Legislative Assembly must, by resolution-- 19
(a) appoint 3 members to the commission of inquiry; and 20
(b) nominate 1 of the 3 members as the presiding member. 21
Page 4
Parliamentary (Heiner Affair and Related Matters) Commission of Inquiry Bill 2014
Part 2 Establishment and operation of commission of inquiry
[s 5]
(2) A person is eligible for appointment as a member only if the 1
person is a former judge. 2
(3) In this section-- 3
former judge means-- 4
(a) a former Supreme Court judge or District Court judge; 5
or 6
(b) a former judge of a court of the Commonwealth or 7
another State, other than a Magistrates Court of the 8
Commonwealth or another State. 9
5 Cessation of membership 10
(1) A person ceases to be a member on the day the report of the 11
commission of inquiry is given to the Speaker under section 12
10. 13
(2) If more than 1 report is given to the Speaker, a person ceases 14
to be a member on the day the last report is given to the 15
Speaker. 16
6 Death, incapacity or resignation of member 17
(1) This section applies if a member-- 18
(a) dies; or 19
(b) is removed from membership by resolution of the 20
Legislative Assembly because the member is mentally 21
or physically incapable of satisfactorily performing the 22
member's functions; or 23
(c) resigns the member's appointment to the commission of 24
inquiry by written notice to the Speaker. 25
(2) The 2 remaining members are taken to constitute the 26
commission of inquiry. 27
(3) The Legislative Assembly must, by resolution, appoint 1 of 28
the remaining members as the presiding member. 29
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Parliamentary (Heiner Affair and Related Matters) Commission of Inquiry Bill 2014
Part 3 Role of commission of inquiry
[s 7]
(4) However, if the Legislative Assembly is not sitting, the 1
Governor in Council must appoint the presiding member 2
under subsection (3). 3
7 Deciding questions 4
(1) If the commission of inquiry is constituted by 3 members and 5
the decisions of the members differ, the commission of 6
inquiry's decision is the decision of the majority. 7
(2) If the commission of inquiry is constituted by 2 members and 8
the decisions of the members differ, the commission of 9
inquiry's decision is the decision of the presiding member. 10
(3) If the decisions of the members differ, a member may require 11
that the particulars of the members' decisions are recorded in 12
the commission of inquiry's report to the Speaker under 13
section 10. 14
8 Fees and allowances of members 15
The fee or allowance payable to a member is the fee or 16
allowance decided by resolution of the Legislative Assembly. 17
Part 3 Role of commission of inquiry 18
9 Functions 19
(1) The commission of inquiry is to inquire into, and report to the 20
Legislative Assembly on-- 21
(a) whether it recommends that any act or omission by a 22
person to be investigated in relation to the Heiner 23
affair-- 24
(i) warrants a charge of an offence to be brought 25
against the person; or 26
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Parliamentary (Heiner Affair and Related Matters) Commission of Inquiry Bill 2014
Part 3 Role of commission of inquiry
[s 10]
(ii) for a person who is a judicial officer--warrants the 1
removal of the person from judicial office; and 2
(b) whether it recommends that any act or omission by a 3
person named in the Rofe audit or by any other person 4
who becomes known to the commission of inquiry 5
during the course of its proceedings-- 6
(i) warrants a charge of an offence to be brought 7
against the person; or 8
(ii) warrants any other action being taken against the 9
person; and 10
(c) whether it recommends any constitutional, legislative or 11
administrative changes arising from the commission of 12
inquiry's functions under paragraph (a) or (b). 13
(2) In this section-- 14
person to be investigated, in relation to the Heiner affair, 15
means-- 16
(a) a person who is a Supreme Court judge; or 17
(b) a person who is a District Court judge; or 18
(c) a person who is a magistrate; or 19
(d) the person who held the office of State Coroner on 1 20
January 2013. 21
10 Report 22
(1) The commission of inquiry must report to the Speaker on-- 23
(a) the commission of inquiry's findings of fact; and 24
(b) the commission of inquiry's recommendations in 25
relation to its functions. 26
(2) The commission of inquiry must report to the Speaker within 27
6 months of the commencement. 28
(3) The commission of inquiry may report under subsection (1) in 29
the form of 1 or more reports. 30
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Parliamentary (Heiner Affair and Related Matters) Commission of Inquiry Bill 2014
Part 4 Proceedings of commission of inquiry
[s 11]
(4) The commission of inquiry must also provide to the Speaker 1
as much of the record of evidence of its proceedings as it 2
considers to be necessary to substantiate a report of the 3
commission of inquiry. 4
(5) The Speaker must, as soon as reasonably practicable after 5
receiving a report or a record of evidence of the commission 6
of inquiry, lay, or cause to be laid, a copy of the report or the 7
evidence before the Legislative Assembly. 8
(6) The day by which the commission of inquiry must report to 9
the Speaker under subsection (2) may be extended by 10
resolution of the Legislative Assembly. 11
Part 4 Proceedings of commission of 12
inquiry 13
11 Application of Commissions of Inquiry Act 1950 14
(1) The commission of inquiry is deemed to be a commission 15
within the meaning of the Commissions of Inquiry Act 1950, 16
section 3. 17
(2) Subject to this Act, the Commissions of Inquiry Act 1950, 18
other than sections 4, 4A, 27, 28, 29 and 30, apply to the 19
commission of inquiry. 20
(3) For the purposes of applying the Commissions of Inquiry Act 21
1950 under subsection (2)-- 22
(a) each member is deemed to be a commissioner within the 23
meaning of section 3 of that Act; and 24
(b) the presiding member is deemed to be a chairperson 25
within the meaning of section 3 of that Act; and 26
(c) section 5(2A) of that Act is to be construed as if the 27
reference to the chairperson's writing under section 5(1) 28
is a reference to the presiding member's writing. 29
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Parliamentary (Heiner Affair and Related Matters) Commission of Inquiry Bill 2014
Part 4 Proceedings of commission of inquiry
[s 12]
(4) A right or power conferred on the commission of inquiry by 1
the operation of this section is in addition to a right or power 2
otherwise conferred by this Act. 3
12 Consideration of previous investigations 4
(1) In carrying out its functions, the commission of inquiry may, 5
to the extent it considers it necessary or desirable to do so, 6
have regard to-- 7
(a) the record of evidence of the proceedings, or the 8
findings, of any other inquiry into the Heiner affair; and 9
(b) the Rofe audit; and 10
(c) any other related material. 11
(2) The commission of inquiry may act under subsection (1) 12
despite any other Act or privilege of the Legislative Assembly. 13
13 Provision of assistance and information to commission 14
of inquiry 15
(1) At the request of the presiding member, an entity may-- 16
(a) provide assistance to the commission of inquiry; or 17
(b) provide a document, material or information to the 18
commission of inquiry that is relevant to the 19
commission of inquiry's functions. 20
(2) A person may provide information to the commission of 21
inquiry under this section despite any other Act prohibiting 22
the provision of the information. 23
14 Claim of privilege not available 24
(1) This section applies to a person who has possession of-- 25
(a) a document relating to discussions by Ministers or a 26
decision arising from a discussion by Ministers; or 27
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Parliamentary (Heiner Affair and Related Matters) Commission of Inquiry Bill 2014
Part 4 Proceedings of commission of inquiry
[s 15]
(b) a document relating to a recommendation made to the 1
Governor in Council and any decision by the Governor 2
in Council as a result of that recommendation. 3
(2) A person to whom subsection (1) applies cannot claim 4
privilege on behalf of the State from production of those 5
documents to the commission of inquiry. 6
(3) The documents referred to in subsection (1) are not protected 7
from production to the commission of inquiry. 8
15 Statement of witness inadmissible 9
(1) This section applies to the following material (witness 10
information)-- 11
(a) a statement or disclosure made by a witness to the 12
commission of inquiry; 13
(b) a document or thing produced by a witness to the 14
commission of inquiry; 15
(c) a document, information or thing obtained as a direct or 16
indirect consequence of a statement, disclosure, 17
document or thing referred to in paragraph (a) or (b). 18
(2) Witness information is not admissible in evidence in any civil 19
or criminal proceeding in any court of the Commonwealth or 20
a State. 21
(3) Subsection (2) does not apply to a proceeding for an offence 22
against this Act or the Commissions of Inquiry Act 1950. 23
16 Documents committed to custody of Speaker 24
(1) At the time of making its report or, if more than 1 report is 25
made, its last report to the Speaker, the commission of inquiry 26
must give documents in its possession to the custody of the 27
Speaker. 28
(2) The Speaker is to deal with the documents according to law. 29
Page 10
Parliamentary (Heiner Affair and Related Matters) Commission of Inquiry Bill 2014
Part 5 Other
[s 17]
Part 5 Other 1
17 Officers and staff of commission of inquiry 2
(1) The commission of inquiry may, with the approval of the 3
Attorney-General, appoint or engage a lawyer or other person 4
to assist it either generally or in relation to a particular matter. 5
(2) The staff of the commission of inquiry are the persons 6
employed by it or made available to it by the Speaker. 7
(3) The Speaker may arrange with the clerk of the Parliament or 8
the chief executive of the Public Service Commission for the 9
services of officers or employees of the parliamentary service 10
or public service employees to be made available to the 11
commission of inquiry. 12
(4) In this section-- 13
employee, in relation to the parliamentary service, see the 14
Parliamentary Service Act 1988, section 4. 15
officer, in relation to the parliamentary service, see the 16
Parliamentary Service Act 1988, section 4. 17
18 Conduct of inquiry not subject to review 18
(1) The conduct of the commission of inquiry and the right of the 19
commission of inquiry to inquire into a matter is not subject to 20
review by court. 21
(2) However, the Judicial Review Act 1991, part 5 applies to a 22
decision of the commission of inquiry to the extent it is 23
affected by jurisdictional error. 24
19 Regulation-making power 25
The Governor in Council may make regulations under this 26
Act. 27
Page 11
Parliamentary (Heiner Affair and Related Matters) Commission of Inquiry Bill 2014
Part 5 Other
[s 20]
20 Expiry 1
This Act expires 1 year after commencement. 2
Page 12
Parliamentary (Heiner Affair and Related Matters) Commission of Inquiry Bill 2014
Schedule 1
Schedule 1 Dictionary 1
section 2 2
commission of inquiry see section 3(2). 3
Heiner affair means the events referred to in the report by the 4
Queensland Child Protection Commission of Inquiry entitled 5
`3(e) Report', June 2013. 6
member means a member of the commission of inquiry. 7
parliamentary service see the Parliamentary Service Act 8
1988, section 23. 9
Rofe audit means the document entitled `The Rofe QC audit 10
of the Heiner affair' by David Rofe QC, tendered to the 11
Queensland Child Protection Commission of Inquiry on 24 12
July 2012. 13
witness information see section 15(1). 14
Authorised by the Parliamentary Counsel
Page 13
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