Parliamentary Salaries and Superannuation Amendment Bill 2011

 I rise to support the Parliamentary Salaries and Superannuation Amendment Bill 2011. This bill is about ensuring good behaviour in this house and good standards in this house and that we as members of Parliament act responsibly in this house.

We operate in this fine building. This parliamentary building was built in 1856, and some 11 prime ministers have sat in this chamber. It is a great chamber and house. When visitors come to this place to visit the building, they are in absolute awe. When they sit in the gallery and watch the way we behave, that is where unfortunately in many instances it all goes downhill.

What we are doing with this bill is very clearly ensuring that we set the standards so that we behave in the manner that all Victorians would expect of us. I see some members of the opposition taking absolutely no notice of this. It is very unfortunate to have to say that this is about how we behave, about leadership and about what Victorians expect from their politicians. Unfortunately over many years, and particularly over the last 11 years, we have had a spiralling downwards in behaviour in this chamber, thanks to the former government.

The declining confidence, particularly in the 11 years of Labor's spin and waste, is about to be rectified by this bill. It is part of setting the standards, which the coalition has been doing since coming to government -- setting the standards on the streets when it comes to hoon driving and putting more police on the roads, setting the standards on our train stations with protective services officers and setting the standards in the home with legislation governing teenage drinking. There are so many frames in the bills we have introduced into the Parliament since coming to government with which we are setting the standards, and we are continuing to set standards in this chamber. That is what this bill is all about -- setting the standards and ensuring that we deliver what is expected of us as members of Parliament.

This is a workplace and we come here to work. In any other workplace you would not expect to hear what is said and see some of the behaviour that we hear and have in this place at certain times.

The standing orders are not being changed by the bill, but we are changing the penalty for not behaving. What we are saying is that if you do not behave, you will be penalised. It is very simple: you will lose a day's pay for bad behaviour. If you behave in the manner that one would expect, nothing changes, but if you use parliamentary privilege and things get to a point where there is effectively no other alternative but for you to be thrown out, you will lose a day's pay. As it is very simple, I am sure the action could be undertaken by members of either side of the house. It is a fair bill; it is not directed at the opposition or the government. It is directed at each and every member of Parliament in order to lift the standards of behaviour. What this coalition government is doing is lifting the standards and delivering on our commitments.

I am sure that many people, including many members of the opposition, have had visitors, including schoolkids, come into the chamber. I will share with the chamber a story about a 16-year-old schoolkid who while she was getting work experience with me this week came into the chamber. Her first impressions were not what she expected of a Parliament. I notice that in debate on this very important bill, in which we would expect some sort of respect, we hear the opposition leader shouting from across the table and not giving the bill the due respect that one would expect for a bill of such importance.

The coalition parties are leading in setting the standards. Victoria will be the first jurisdiction to introduce a disincentive for inappropriate conduct in Parliament, and as Victorians we should all be proud to be leading the way on this matter. I am sure we will find other parliaments around Australia taking note of this very important initiative. The Parliamentary Salaries and Superannuation Amendment Bill 2011 imposes a fine on members of Parliament who are named and subsequently suspended from the Legislative Assembly or the Legislative Council. While we are the first Australian Parliament to propose such a measure, we are also following in the footsteps of the House of Commons of the Mother of Parliaments at Westminster, which is governed by its standing order 45A, which provides:

The salary of a member suspended from the service of the house shall be withheld for the duration of his suspension.

Although we are certainly setting the standards in Australia, we are following a precedent in the British system.

The loss salary has also been accepted as part of that Parliament for more than a decade. This bill removes a double standard in that it sets the standard of conduct that members should exhibit in Parliament. At all times members should display behaviour that could be expected of parliamentarians and not of students in a rowdy classroom. Anyone visiting constituents and schools in my area would find kids behaving a lot better than some of us do here in Parliament, and this would be the case in a lot of the electorates that members in this house represent. Some students who misbehave receive disciplinary action, and the same level of disciplinary action should be applied to members of this house.

We should take into consideration that since February of this year there have been 26 recorded suspensions, 15 of which exceeded an hour in duration.

There were recurring suspensions of four members. We have not started off the year all that well. Hopefully the threat of incurring a penalty will at least make people think about their behaviour before behaving in a manner that would warrant a penalty.

New section 7B(1) of the bill provides that:

If a member is suspended from the service of the Council or the Assembly after being named under the Standing Orders of the Council or the Assembly, a fine is imposed on the member by virtue of this Act ...

This fine will be calculated as 1/365th of a member's base salary multiplied by the number of days the member is suspended. This is not an unfair punishment. It simply says that on a parliamentary sitting day any member not able to serve in this house due to his or her behaviour will not receive that day's salary.

It is very simple: anyone not able to serve or work will not be paid. The question of where this money is to be distributed highlights one of the strengths of the legislation, and I strongly support the fact that we are giving the money back to the community; we are not taking it. We are actually putting the money back into the community, and that is something I as part of the coalition am happy about and proud of.

The member for Bendigo East even thought this was a good idea and wanted to be involved in the way the money would be divided up. I am sure that we will have a process in place so that the money is allocated to the charities that deserve it. Hopefully there will not be a lot to give because the level of behaviour will improve with the introduction of this legislation. However, people will be people and individuals will behave accordingly, and if they do, there will be more money to divide up and we will do that appropriately

The presiding officers will oversee the way this money is distributed. This is a great piece of legislation; it is setting standards and following what we are doing out on the streets. It follows up on the bills we have passed since being in government and seeks to ensure that the way in which we conduct ourselves in this Parliament is appropriate and respectful on both sides of the house. It will ensure that we behave in a manner that all Victorians expect of us. I commend the bill to the house.