Once the election is called the Commonwealth Government will be in "caretaker" mode when no new laws will be passed unless they’re urgent and have bipartisan support. The Spring sittings are scheduled to commence on 15 October 2007 but will not occur if the Parliament is prorogued (brought to a close) before that date for a general election.
Looking at the Bills List, there are Bills not passed which represent the culmination of a long period of consultation and negotiation. Other Bills (such as Access Card) have had to be amended and will likely wait for the next term to be re-introduced, if at all.
The Financial Sector Legislation Amendment (Discretionary Mutual Funds and Direct Offshore Foreign Insurers) Bill 2007 and Financial Sector Legislation Amendment (Simplifying Regulation and Review) Bill 2007 and the International Trade Integrity Bill were passed on 13 September and are awaiting Assent. The Trade Practices Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 1) 2007 was passed on 20 September and is also awaiting Assent. UPDATE: These Bills all received assent on 24 September.
The Financial Sector Legislation Amendment (Review of Prudential Decisions) 2007 Bill was introduced on 13 September but will lapse.
The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (Fair Bank & Credit Card Fees) Amendment Bill 2007 will also lapse.
The Trade Practices (Industry Codes – Franchising) Amendment Regulations 2007 (No. 1) will have to wait for a further 6 Senate sitting days before they take effect (to ensure they are not disallowed).
Regardless of the election, here’s a sample
of key dates that are not dependent on further Parliament sittings this year:
- 12 December 2007: Anti-money laundering
customer identification rules start - 1 December 2007: the new ASIC debenture
disclosure rules start - 1 January 2008: the new ASX governance
principles and APRA governance standard
start - 1 January 2008: The Basel II framework
starts - 1 March 2008: new franchise disclosure
regulations commence (if not disallowed) - 31 March 2008: first AML compliance
report due - 1 July 2008: merged financial services
dispute resolution scheme starts.
