In 2024, the Legislative Council of NSW celebrated its Bicentenary. As part of the commemoration, it was felt appropriate to publish a select compilation of articles, written mainly by Council staff, to enhance understanding of the institution and its vital role in the functioning of our democracy.
Parliamentary Democracy at Work is the result. Specific themes covered include: the history of the Upper House, the Council’s quest for governmental transparency, parliamentary privilege, the wide-ranging work of Council committees, the use of orders for the production of state papers, and procedural, ethical and leadership issues.
This book will be of interest to students and practitioners of parliament in general and those of upper houses in particular.
Foreword
Hon Ben Franklin MLC
Preface and Acknowledgements
David Blunt AM and David Clune OAM
Contributors
Introduction
David Blunt AM and David Clune OAM
Part One: A progressive conservative institution: The history of the Legislative Council of New South Wales
1 The Development of Legislative Institutions in New South Wales, 1823-1843
David Clune OAM
2 1843: The year it all began
David Clune OAM
3 The Legislative Council of New South Wales: A progressive conservative institution
David Clune OAM
4 The New South Wales Legislative Council’s Oral History Project
David Blunt AM and Alex Stedman
5 Preserving the Past, Preparing for the Future
Hon Don Harwin and David Blunt AM
6 Reflect, celebrate, imagine: commemorating the bicentenary of the New South Wales Legislative Council
Hon Ben Franklin MLC
Part Two: Long nights, dramatic and historic times
7 The Membership of the New South Wales Legislative Council Crossbench and its Implications for Responsible Government, 1999-2007
Lynn Lovelock
8 The Tablecloth and the Long Bell: Media perceptions of the New South Wales Legislative Council, 1999–2009
Steven Reynolds
9 Prorogation and Principle: The ‘Gentrader’ inquiry, government accountability and the shutdown of Parliament
Teresa McMichael
10 The Introduction and Impact of Time Limits for Debate on Government Legislation in the New South Wales Legislative Council
David Blunt AM
11 Unproclaimed Legislation: Determining when, or if, a law passed by the New South Wales Parliament will have effect
Alex Stedman
12 Fifteen Years in the Making: The Aboriginal Languages Bill 2017
Hon John Ajaka
Part Three: The transparency agenda
13 Orders for Papers and Cabinet Confidentiality in the Decade after the Egan Cases
Beverly Duffy
14 The Power of the New South Wales Legislative Council to Order the Production of State Papers: Revisiting the Egan decisions ten years on
Lynn Lovelock
15 The Accountability of Statutory Bodies to Parliament: The case of Greyhound Racing New South Wales
David Blunt AM
16 Evading Scrutiny: Orders for papers and access to cabinet information by the New South Wales Legislative Council
Sharon Ohnesorge and Beverly Duffy
17 Orders for Papers and Parliamentary Committees in the New South Wales Legislative Council in 2018
David Blunt AM
18 The Shake-Up: New rules in play for the New South Wales Legislative Council in December 2021
Allison Stowe
19 Practice Makes Perfect? (Or at least a little bit better): Sessional orders as a vehicle for procedural reform in the New South Wales Legislative Council
Velia Mignacca
20 The Transparency Agenda: How the New South Wales Legislative Council strengthened its role as a House of Review in the 57th Parliament
Shaza Barbar
21 Footnotes and Epilogues to the Extraordinary 57th Parliament (2019 to 2023)
David Blunt
Part Four: A robust committee system
22 Innovative committee methods: Case studies from two Parliaments in 2003
Beverly Duffy and Merrin Thompson
23 Celebrating 25 years of the New South Wales Legislative Council’s Modern Committee System
Hon Don Harwin
24 Information is power: Challenges for committees in the New South Wales Legislative Council in 2014
Beverly Duffy and David Blunt AM
25 Support for Vulnerable Witnesses Appearing before Legislative Council Committees
Teresa McMichael
26 Back to the future: Charting the evolution of the New South Wales Legislative Council Regulation Committee
Sharon Ohnesorge and Stephen Frappell
27 The Power to Compel the Attendance of Witnesses and the Giving of Evidence before Committees: Lessons from the New South Wales Legislative Council
Vanessa O’Loan
Part Five: Parliamentary privilege – on the cutting edge
28 Parliamentary Sovereignty and Parliamentary Privilege: an overview
David Blunt AM
29 A Case for a Parliamentary Privileges Act for New South Wales
Stephen Frappell
30 Asserting the Inquiry Power: Parliamentary privilege trumps statutory secrecy in New South Wales
Steven Reynolds, Sam Griffith and Tina Higgins
31 Out of step? The New South Wales Parliamentary Evidence Act 1901
Beverly Duffy and Susan Ohnesorge
32 Parliamentary Privilege: Developments since 2019 and current issues
Stephen Frappell
Part Six: A Clerk’s eye view
33 Responsible Government: Ministerial responsibility and motions of ‘censure’ and ‘no confidence’
David Blunt AM
34 A Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards for New South Wales?
David Blunt AM
35 Parliamentary Traditions, Innovation and the Great Principles of English Parliamentary Law
David Blunt AM
36 Making Honey in the Bearpit: Parliament and its Impact on Policymaking
Steven Reynolds
37 ‘You have committed a great offence and have but a weak answer to make for yourself’: When Clerks make mistakes
Steven Reynolds
38 Parliamentary Speech and the Locations of Decision-making
David Blunt AM
39 Cane Toads, Notices of Motion and the Law of Unintended Consequences
Steven Reynolds
40 The election of a new President of the New South Wales Legislative Council in 2021: A Clerk’s eye view of proceedings
David Blunt AM
41 Creating a modern parliamentary workplace: safety, diversity and representation – a personal reflection on the New South Wales experience
David Blunt AM
Index
