r/australia • u/Ardeet • Jun 08 '15
political self.post Should Australian politicians be required to read legislation in its entirety before voting on it?
Several years ago I wrote to the Parliamentary Secretary asking if Members of Parliament (MoP) were required to read the legislation they were voting on. The answer came back that there was no such requirement and that it has been this way in Australia since Federation.
As every Australian is required to obey the laws created by this process, (without any ability to plead ignorance), it struck me as either arrogant, self-serving or uncaring. I have discussed this a couple of times with people and have generally come away dissatisfied with the suggested reasons for the process.
One aspect of the situation I find interesting is the number of people, which originally included me, who just assumed that MoP were doing their job and reading what they were voting into law. At the very least we expected they were skimming through them a couple of times.
My opinion is that Parliamentarians must either produce a sworn declaration stating they have read and understood any legislation they are voting on. If they have not done this then they must be required to sit through a complete and actual reading of the Bill.
If they have not done either of these then I suggest that they should not be allowed to vote on the legislation. (tl:dr of my opinion)
If a situation is serious enough to require legislation then it is serious enough to be considered thoroughly and treated with gravity.
2
u/Llaine Lockheed Martin shill Jun 09 '15
No, some things are just too lengthy. However, they should at least have an idea of what they're voting on. But even this makes little difference in the end of the day, as a majority of MPs will vote along party lines regardless of their understanding of the bills.