❓ A member of parliament questions the Attorney General regarding the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Amendment (Sex or Gender Changes) Bill 2024, focusing on the lack of definitions for 'gender' and 'biological sex' and the status of related regulations. The Attorney General's response is dismissive and deflecting.
AnsweredQoN 396Legislative Council
Asked
8 May 2024
Member
Portfolio
parliamentary secretary representing the Attorney General
QuestionView source ↗
BIRTHS, DEATHS AND
MARRIAGES REGISTRATION AMENDMENT(SEX OR GENDER CHANGES) BILL 2024
396. Hon BEN DAWKINS to the parliamentary secretary
representing the Attorney General:
I refer to the proposed Births,
Deaths and Marriages Registration Amendment (Sex or Gender Changes) Bill 2024.
(1) Can the
Attorney General confirm that the proposed legislation has over 100 references
to gender or biological sex and neither is defined and that they are used
interchangeably and in the alternative?
(2) Is the Attorney General, a lawyer,
familiar with the custom of defining terms in legislation?
(3) Are
regulations for this act in existence; have they been drafted in any form; and,
if so, by whom were they drafted?
MARRIAGES REGISTRATION AMENDMENT(SEX OR GENDER CHANGES) BILL 2024
396. Hon BEN DAWKINS to the parliamentary secretary
representing the Attorney General:
I refer to the proposed Births,
Deaths and Marriages Registration Amendment (Sex or Gender Changes) Bill 2024.
(1) Can the
Attorney General confirm that the proposed legislation has over 100 references
to gender or biological sex and neither is defined and that they are used
interchangeably and in the alternative?
(2) Is the Attorney General, a lawyer,
familiar with the custom of defining terms in legislation?
(3) Are
regulations for this act in existence; have they been drafted in any form; and,
if so, by whom were they drafted?
AnswerView source ↗
The following answer has been
provided to me by the Attorney General.
(1) The Attorney General
has better things to do than count the number of words that are in a particular
bill. If the member is so keen on the number of times something is mentioned in
a bill, I am certain he can do his own homework and count them himself. I note
that there are no references in the bill to the words ''biological sex''.
(2) Yes, the
Attorney General is familiar with the principles of legislative interpretation,
as is the Parliamentary Counsel's Office, which drafted the bill. I encourage
the member to familiarise himself with those principles.
(3) It is not an act. No regulations
have been drafted for the current bill.
provided to me by the Attorney General.
(1) The Attorney General
has better things to do than count the number of words that are in a particular
bill. If the member is so keen on the number of times something is mentioned in
a bill, I am certain he can do his own homework and count them himself. I note
that there are no references in the bill to the words ''biological sex''.
(2) Yes, the
Attorney General is familiar with the principles of legislative interpretation,
as is the Parliamentary Counsel's Office, which drafted the bill. I encourage
the member to familiarise himself with those principles.
(3) It is not an act. No regulations
have been drafted for the current bill.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.