1. This week 10 years ago, Attorney-General, Nicola Roxon announced the Federal Magistrates Court and the title of Federal Magistrates would be changed to better reflect their role in the judicial system.
Ms Roxon said she would consult with the Court as to what the change should be before bringing forward legislation in the Spring sittings of the Parliament.
“Since the Federal Magistrates Court was first established in 2000, the number and complexity of cases coming before it have increased,” Ms Roxon said.
“The Court’s jurisdiction has expanded to include matters as diverse as family law, migration and consumer protection law.”
2. Minister for Home Affairs and Justice, Jason Clare signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the New Zealand Minister for Justice, Judith Collins to trial the sharing of information for criminal history checks between the two countries.
Mr Clare said during the trial, New Zealand would be able to seek criminal records from all Australian jurisdictions and Queensland would be able to seek criminal records from New Zealand.
He said after the trial, consideration would be given to the possibility of expanding the arrangements to enable all Australian jurisdictions to make requests for criminal records from New Zealand.
3. An independent review of Tasmania’s Public Service found widespread concern about the way it was run.
The review by former Queensland Public Service Commissioner, George O’Farrell revealed widely held concerns that there were no consequences for underperforming PS staff or sanctions for Agency leaders who failed to pick up a problem.
Mr O’Farrell said he uncovered numerous examples that suggested a lack of proper understanding of how the State’s Public Service should work, and instead of the State Service Commissioner setting standards and being responsible for reviewing the Public Service, an independent person should be appointed to conduct regular performance reviews.
4. The World’s Ultimate Sport Cities Awards, based on industry rankings from SportBusiness International, ranked Melbourne second-best city in the world for sporting events behind London.
Victorian Premier, Ted Baillieu said Melbourne topped the rankings for the World’s Best Sport Venues and the World’s Best Major Events Strategy and was named the Best Sports City in the “large” category for cities with a population of between four and six million people.
“Major sporting events deliver significant economic benefits for Victoria, and major events generate jobs in the events industry as well as our hotels, restaurants, retail businesses and tourist attractions,” Mr Baillieu said.
5. In Queensland a decade ago, Minister for Tourism, Jann Stuckey announced the establishment of a new Government Department to reinvigorate the State’s tourism industry.
Ms Stuckey also announced a new Tourism Cabinet Committee along with a Tourism Investment Attraction Unit and an Attracting Aviation Investment Fund.
Ms Stuckey said the DestinationQ strategy was a whole-of-Government approach to tourism that would foster new partnerships between industry and Government.
“We want a collaborative approach as we signal to the rest of the world that Queensland is well and truly open for business,” she said.
“We will drive a way forward for industry, delivering cross-Agency coordination and urgent tourism growth.”
6. And in Western Australia, Minister for Science and Innovation, John Day welcomed the selection of his State as a dual host of the world’s largest radio astronomy telescope.
Mr Day said WA had been chosen to work with South Africa in the delivery of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), reinforcing the State’s reputation as a world-leader in radio astronomy research.
He said the dual-site arrangement would create closer ties with South Africa and build on the substantial investment in infrastructure and expertise that already existed in both locations.
“While there are still more discussions to take place and further decisions to be made, the International SKA Organisation’s announcement is a significant step towards the realisation of the wider SKA project,” Mr Day said.
