Defence (Workforce) Amendment Bill

Members, we now come to clause 3. This is the debate on the principal Act. The question is that clause 3 stand part.

Dr Lawrence Xu-Nan: Madam Chair. Oh!

Hon Member: Ooh!

Dr Lawrence Xu-Nan: Woah!

CHAIRPERSON (Barbara Kuriger): Dr Lawrence Xu-Nan.

I did not realise that mic was on. Thank you, Madam Chair. I do have a question for the Minister on the principal Act, because what we’re seeing here is that the bill only covers adjustments to the Defence Act 1990, which is appropriate. However, as we have heard from the Minister on quite a few instances, there are broader implications—we talk about health and safety, but we also talk in terms of emergency management. I know that in terms of the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2002, there are clauses specifically pertaining to the Defence Force, and those are from a health and safety perspective. We’ve also got the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015. I want to check with the Minister: are there no actual amendments to those two other Acts as well that could be affected by the decision that has been made in this bill? It is a short question, but I think it’s an important question on the relativity of the other Acts.

No, the clause is very clear: the bill amends the Defence Act 1990, and then there’s a full stop. That’s it.