❓ Dr. Woollard asks the Minister for Health to expedite the Surrogacy Bill 2008. The Minister declines to suspend standing orders but commits to debating the bill as a priority, highlighting past failures and urging bipartisan support.
AnsweredQoN 6Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
SURROGACY BILL 6. Dr J.M. WOOLLARD to the Minister for Health: The long-awaited surrogacy legislation, which is urgently needed to enable childless couples to commence a family, was given in-principle support by this house and both major parties prior to the election. Will the minister agree to suspend standing orders next week and declare it an urgent bill, with each member being given 10 minutes during the second reading debate to debate the bill so that it can be passed to the Legislative Council as a matter of priority? Dr K.D. HAMES
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for the question and for asking me the first question that I have been asked as the Minister for Health and Deputy Premier; I am very grateful. Also, I welcome all new members of Parliament. The Surrogacy Bill 2008 will be an interesting exercise in this house. For members’ information, the Liberal Party has agreed that its members will have a free vote on the bill, just as they did on the Surrogacy Bill 2007. I do not know whether Labor Party members have chosen to do the same thing they did when they voted on the Surrogacy Bill 2007. Instead of doing what we normally do when voting—that is, all opposition members move to one side of the house and all government members go to the other—all new members will, on the first piece of legislation they will debate, have to work out in advance what they think are the issues in the bill and make up their own minds about how they will vote. To do that, all new members must be fully informed. A collective briefing will be held for all members of Parliament, at which advice will be given on the matters relating to the Surrogacy Bill. When the bill was last debated, the former Minister for Health and I were on the same side; we supported the recommendations of the bill. I hope that once again I will have the member for Fremantle’s support to pass the bill. The former government’s Surrogacy Bill was sent to the other place and amendments were made to it, which were supported by that house. Sadly, however, because the former government called an early election, the legislation was unable to proceed. That is very sad for all the women and families who were desperate to use the provisions in that legislation so that they could have children. If Parliament had come back for just one more day, we could have passed that legislation and it would have been the law in the state today. However, because the former Premier of the Labor Party chose to call an early election, everyone who wanted this legislation passed was bitterly disappointed. Sadly, it is not possible to bring this legislation forward as an urgent bill. I give a commitment from members on this side of the house that it will be the first legislation we debate. However, as members know, no member is able to speak on any matter before the house until they have spoken on the Address-in-Reply. If we were to suspend standing orders and bring forward the surrogacy legislation, any member who spoke on the legislation would have to use that speech as their Address-in-Reply speech. That is not acceptable to me and I am sure that it is not acceptable to the new members of the house who want to make their maiden speech properly. I ask the opposition and individual members from both sides of the house to support the quick passage of this legislation when it comes before the house to make sure that it is passed as soon as it can be.
SURROGACY BILL
The long-awaited surrogacy legislation, which is urgently needed to enable childless couples to commence a family, was given in-principle support by this house and both major parties prior to the election. Will the minister agree to suspend standing orders next week and declare it an urgent bill, with each member being given 10 minutes during the second reading debate to debate the bill so that it can be passed to the Legislative Council as a matter of priority? Dr K.D. HAMES replied: I thank the member for the question and for asking me the first question that I have been asked as the Minister for Health and Deputy Premier; I am very grateful. Also, I welcome all new members of Parliament. The Surrogacy Bill 2008 will be an interesting exercise in this house. For members’ information, the Liberal Party has agreed that its members will have a free vote on the bill, just as they did on the Surrogacy Bill 2007. I do not know whether Labor Party members have chosen to do the same thing they did when they voted on the Surrogacy Bill 2007. Instead of doing what we normally do when voting—that is, all opposition members move to one side of the house and all government members go to the other—all new members will, on the first piece of legislation they will debate, have to work out in advance what they think are the issues in the bill and make up their own minds about how they will vote. To do that, all new members must be fully informed. A collective briefing will be held for all members of Parliament, at which advice will be given on the matters relating to the Surrogacy Bill. When the bill was last debated, the former Minister for Health and I were on the same side; we supported the recommendations of the bill. I hope that once again I will have the member for Fremantle’s support to pass the bill. The former government’s Surrogacy Bill was sent to the other place and amendments were made to it, which were supported by that house. Sadly, however, because the former government called an early election, the legislation was unable to proceed. That is very sad for all the women and families who were desperate to use the provisions in that legislation so that they could have children. If Parliament had come back for just one more day, we could have passed that legislation and it would have been the law in the state today. However, because the former Premier of the Labor Party chose to call an early election, everyone who wanted this legislation passed was bitterly disappointed. Sadly, it is not possible to bring this legislation forward as an urgent bill. I give a commitment from members on this side of the house that it will be the first legislation we debate. However, as members know, no member is able to speak on any matter before the house until they have spoken on the Address-in-Reply. If we were to suspend standing orders and bring forward the surrogacy legislation, any member who spoke on the legislation would have to use that speech as their Address-in-Reply speech. That is not acceptable to me and I am sure that it is not acceptable to the new members of the house who want to make their maiden speech properly. I ask the opposition and individual members from both sides of the house to support the quick passage of this legislation when it comes before the house to make sure that it is passed as soon as it can be.
Dr K.D. HAMES replied: I thank the member for the question and for asking me the first question that I have been asked as the Minister for Health and Deputy Premier; I am very grateful. Also, I welcome all new members of Parliament. The Surrogacy Bill 2008 will be an interesting exercise in this house. For members’ information, the Liberal Party has agreed that its members will have a free vote on the bill, just as they did on the Surrogacy Bill 2007. I do not know whether Labor Party members have chosen to do the same thing they did when they voted on the Surrogacy Bill 2007. Instead of doing what we normally do when voting—that is, all opposition members move to one side of the house and all government members go to the other—all new members will, on the first piece of legislation they will debate, have to work out in advance what they think are the issues in the bill and make up their own minds about how they will vote. To do that, all new members must be fully informed. A collective briefing will be held for all members of Parliament, at which advice will be given on the matters relating to the Surrogacy Bill. When the bill was last debated, the former Minister for Health and I were on the same side; we supported the recommendations of the bill. I hope that once again I will have the member for Fremantle’s support to pass the bill. The former government’s Surrogacy Bill was sent to the other place and amendments were made to it, which were supported by that house. Sadly, however, because the former government called an early election, the legislation was unable to proceed. That is very sad for all the women and families who were desperate to use the provisions in that legislation so that they could have children. If Parliament had come back for just one more day, we could have passed that legislation and it would have been the law in the state today. However, because the former Premier of the Labor Party chose to call an early election, everyone who wanted this legislation passed was bitterly disappointed. Sadly, it is not possible to bring this legislation forward as an urgent bill. I give a commitment from members on this side of the house that it will be the first legislation we debate. However, as members know, no member is able to speak on any matter before the house until they have spoken on the Address-in-Reply. If we were to suspend standing orders and bring forward the surrogacy legislation, any member who spoke on the legislation would have to use that speech as their Address-in-Reply speech. That is not acceptable to me and I am sure that it is not acceptable to the new members of the house who want to make their maiden speech properly. I ask the opposition and individual members from both sides of the house to support the quick passage of this legislation when it comes before the house to make sure that it is passed as soon as it can be.
I thank the member for the question and for asking me the first question that I have been asked as the Minister for Health and Deputy Premier; I am very grateful. Also, I welcome all new members of Parliament. The Surrogacy Bill 2008 will be an interesting exercise in this house. For members’ information, the Liberal Party has agreed that its members will have a free vote on the bill, just as they did on the Surrogacy Bill 2007. I do not know whether Labor Party members have chosen to do the same thing they did when they voted on the Surrogacy Bill 2007. Instead of doing what we normally do when voting—that is, all opposition members move to one side of the house and all government members go to the other—all new members will, on the first piece of legislation they will debate, have to work out in advance what they think are the issues in the bill and make up their own minds about how they will vote. To do that, all new members must be fully informed. A collective briefing will be held for all members of Parliament, at which advice will be given on the matters relating to the Surrogacy Bill. When the bill was last debated, the former Minister for Health and I were on the same side; we supported the recommendations of the bill. I hope that once again I will have the member for Fremantle’s support to pass the bill. The former government’s Surrogacy Bill was sent to the other place and amendments were made to it, which were supported by that house. Sadly, however, because the former government called an early election, the legislation was unable to proceed. That is very sad for all the women and families who were desperate to use the provisions in that legislation so that they could have children. If Parliament had come back for just one more day, we could have passed that legislation and it would have been the law in the state today. However, because the former Premier of the Labor Party chose to call an early election, everyone who wanted this legislation passed was bitterly disappointed. Sadly, it is not possible to bring this legislation forward as an urgent bill. I give a commitment from members on this side of the house that it will be the first legislation we debate. However, as members know, no member is able to speak on any matter before the house until they have spoken on the Address-in-Reply. If we were to suspend standing orders and bring forward the surrogacy legislation, any member who spoke on the legislation would have to use that speech as their Address-in-Reply speech. That is not acceptable to me and I am sure that it is not acceptable to the new members of the house who want to make their maiden speech properly. I ask the opposition and individual members from both sides of the house to support the quick passage of this legislation when it comes before the house to make sure that it is passed as soon as it can be.
The Surrogacy Bill 2008 will be an interesting exercise in this house. For members’ information, the Liberal Party has agreed that its members will have a free vote on the bill, just as they did on the Surrogacy Bill 2007. I do not know whether Labor Party members have chosen to do the same thing they did when they voted on the Surrogacy Bill 2007. Instead of doing what we normally do when voting—that is, all opposition members move to one side of the house and all government members go to the other—all new members will, on the first piece of legislation they will debate, have to work out in advance what they think are the issues in the bill and make up their own minds about how they will vote. To do that, all new members must be fully informed. A collective briefing will be held for all members of Parliament, at which advice will be given on the matters relating to the Surrogacy Bill. When the bill was last debated, the former Minister for Health and I were on the same side; we supported the recommendations of the bill. I hope that once again I will have the member for Fremantle’s support to pass the bill. The former government’s Surrogacy Bill was sent to the other place and amendments were made to it, which were supported by that house. Sadly, however, because the former government called an early election, the legislation was unable to proceed. That is very sad for all the women and families who were desperate to use the provisions in that legislation so that they could have children. If Parliament had come back for just one more day, we could have passed that legislation and it would have been the law in the state today. However, because the former Premier of the Labor Party chose to call an early election, everyone who wanted this legislation passed was bitterly disappointed. Sadly, it is not possible to bring this legislation forward as an urgent bill. I give a commitment from members on this side of the house that it will be the first legislation we debate. However, as members know, no member is able to speak on any matter before the house until they have spoken on the Address-in-Reply. If we were to suspend standing orders and bring forward the surrogacy legislation, any member who spoke on the legislation would have to use that speech as their Address-in-Reply speech. That is not acceptable to me and I am sure that it is not acceptable to the new members of the house who want to make their maiden speech properly. I ask the opposition and individual members from both sides of the house to support the quick passage of this legislation when it comes before the house to make sure that it is passed as soon as it can be.
When the bill was last debated, the former Minister for Health and I were on the same side; we supported the recommendations of the bill. I hope that once again I will have the member for Fremantle’s support to pass the bill. The former government’s Surrogacy Bill was sent to the other place and amendments were made to it, which were supported by that house. Sadly, however, because the former government called an early election, the legislation was unable to proceed. That is very sad for all the women and families who were desperate to use the provisions in that legislation so that they could have children. If Parliament had come back for just one more day, we could have passed that legislation and it would have been the law in the state today. However, because the former Premier of the Labor Party chose to call an early election, everyone who wanted this legislation passed was bitterly disappointed. Sadly, it is not possible to bring this legislation forward as an urgent bill. I give a commitment from members on this side of the house that it will be the first legislation we debate. However, as members know, no member is able to speak on any matter before the house until they have spoken on the Address-in-Reply. If we were to suspend standing orders and bring forward the surrogacy legislation, any member who spoke on the legislation would have to use that speech as their Address-in-Reply speech. That is not acceptable to me and I am sure that it is not acceptable to the new members of the house who want to make their maiden speech properly. I ask the opposition and individual members from both sides of the house to support the quick passage of this legislation when it comes before the house to make sure that it is passed as soon as it can be.
Sadly, it is not possible to bring this legislation forward as an urgent bill. I give a commitment from members on this side of the house that it will be the first legislation we debate. However, as members know, no member is able to speak on any matter before the house until they have spoken on the Address-in-Reply. If we were to suspend standing orders and bring forward the surrogacy legislation, any member who spoke on the legislation would have to use that speech as their Address-in-Reply speech. That is not acceptable to me and I am sure that it is not acceptable to the new members of the house who want to make their maiden speech properly. I ask the opposition and individual members from both sides of the house to support the quick passage of this legislation when it comes before the house to make sure that it is passed as soon as it can be.
SURROGACY BILL
The long-awaited surrogacy legislation, which is urgently needed to enable childless couples to commence a family, was given in-principle support by this house and both major parties prior to the election. Will the minister agree to suspend standing orders next week and declare it an urgent bill, with each member being given 10 minutes during the second reading debate to debate the bill so that it can be passed to the Legislative Council as a matter of priority? Dr K.D. HAMES replied: I thank the member for the question and for asking me the first question that I have been asked as the Minister for Health and Deputy Premier; I am very grateful. Also, I welcome all new members of Parliament. The Surrogacy Bill 2008 will be an interesting exercise in this house. For members’ information, the Liberal Party has agreed that its members will have a free vote on the bill, just as they did on the Surrogacy Bill 2007. I do not know whether Labor Party members have chosen to do the same thing they did when they voted on the Surrogacy Bill 2007. Instead of doing what we normally do when voting—that is, all opposition members move to one side of the house and all government members go to the other—all new members will, on the first piece of legislation they will debate, have to work out in advance what they think are the issues in the bill and make up their own minds about how they will vote. To do that, all new members must be fully informed. A collective briefing will be held for all members of Parliament, at which advice will be given on the matters relating to the Surrogacy Bill. When the bill was last debated, the former Minister for Health and I were on the same side; we supported the recommendations of the bill. I hope that once again I will have the member for Fremantle’s support to pass the bill. The former government’s Surrogacy Bill was sent to the other place and amendments were made to it, which were supported by that house. Sadly, however, because the former government called an early election, the legislation was unable to proceed. That is very sad for all the women and families who were desperate to use the provisions in that legislation so that they could have children. If Parliament had come back for just one more day, we could have passed that legislation and it would have been the law in the state today. However, because the former Premier of the Labor Party chose to call an early election, everyone who wanted this legislation passed was bitterly disappointed. Sadly, it is not possible to bring this legislation forward as an urgent bill. I give a commitment from members on this side of the house that it will be the first legislation we debate. However, as members know, no member is able to speak on any matter before the house until they have spoken on the Address-in-Reply. If we were to suspend standing orders and bring forward the surrogacy legislation, any member who spoke on the legislation would have to use that speech as their Address-in-Reply speech. That is not acceptable to me and I am sure that it is not acceptable to the new members of the house who want to make their maiden speech properly. I ask the opposition and individual members from both sides of the house to support the quick passage of this legislation when it comes before the house to make sure that it is passed as soon as it can be.
Dr K.D. HAMES replied: I thank the member for the question and for asking me the first question that I have been asked as the Minister for Health and Deputy Premier; I am very grateful. Also, I welcome all new members of Parliament. The Surrogacy Bill 2008 will be an interesting exercise in this house. For members’ information, the Liberal Party has agreed that its members will have a free vote on the bill, just as they did on the Surrogacy Bill 2007. I do not know whether Labor Party members have chosen to do the same thing they did when they voted on the Surrogacy Bill 2007. Instead of doing what we normally do when voting—that is, all opposition members move to one side of the house and all government members go to the other—all new members will, on the first piece of legislation they will debate, have to work out in advance what they think are the issues in the bill and make up their own minds about how they will vote. To do that, all new members must be fully informed. A collective briefing will be held for all members of Parliament, at which advice will be given on the matters relating to the Surrogacy Bill. When the bill was last debated, the former Minister for Health and I were on the same side; we supported the recommendations of the bill. I hope that once again I will have the member for Fremantle’s support to pass the bill. The former government’s Surrogacy Bill was sent to the other place and amendments were made to it, which were supported by that house. Sadly, however, because the former government called an early election, the legislation was unable to proceed. That is very sad for all the women and families who were desperate to use the provisions in that legislation so that they could have children. If Parliament had come back for just one more day, we could have passed that legislation and it would have been the law in the state today. However, because the former Premier of the Labor Party chose to call an early election, everyone who wanted this legislation passed was bitterly disappointed. Sadly, it is not possible to bring this legislation forward as an urgent bill. I give a commitment from members on this side of the house that it will be the first legislation we debate. However, as members know, no member is able to speak on any matter before the house until they have spoken on the Address-in-Reply. If we were to suspend standing orders and bring forward the surrogacy legislation, any member who spoke on the legislation would have to use that speech as their Address-in-Reply speech. That is not acceptable to me and I am sure that it is not acceptable to the new members of the house who want to make their maiden speech properly. I ask the opposition and individual members from both sides of the house to support the quick passage of this legislation when it comes before the house to make sure that it is passed as soon as it can be.
I thank the member for the question and for asking me the first question that I have been asked as the Minister for Health and Deputy Premier; I am very grateful. Also, I welcome all new members of Parliament. The Surrogacy Bill 2008 will be an interesting exercise in this house. For members’ information, the Liberal Party has agreed that its members will have a free vote on the bill, just as they did on the Surrogacy Bill 2007. I do not know whether Labor Party members have chosen to do the same thing they did when they voted on the Surrogacy Bill 2007. Instead of doing what we normally do when voting—that is, all opposition members move to one side of the house and all government members go to the other—all new members will, on the first piece of legislation they will debate, have to work out in advance what they think are the issues in the bill and make up their own minds about how they will vote. To do that, all new members must be fully informed. A collective briefing will be held for all members of Parliament, at which advice will be given on the matters relating to the Surrogacy Bill. When the bill was last debated, the former Minister for Health and I were on the same side; we supported the recommendations of the bill. I hope that once again I will have the member for Fremantle’s support to pass the bill. The former government’s Surrogacy Bill was sent to the other place and amendments were made to it, which were supported by that house. Sadly, however, because the former government called an early election, the legislation was unable to proceed. That is very sad for all the women and families who were desperate to use the provisions in that legislation so that they could have children. If Parliament had come back for just one more day, we could have passed that legislation and it would have been the law in the state today. However, because the former Premier of the Labor Party chose to call an early election, everyone who wanted this legislation passed was bitterly disappointed. Sadly, it is not possible to bring this legislation forward as an urgent bill. I give a commitment from members on this side of the house that it will be the first legislation we debate. However, as members know, no member is able to speak on any matter before the house until they have spoken on the Address-in-Reply. If we were to suspend standing orders and bring forward the surrogacy legislation, any member who spoke on the legislation would have to use that speech as their Address-in-Reply speech. That is not acceptable to me and I am sure that it is not acceptable to the new members of the house who want to make their maiden speech properly. I ask the opposition and individual members from both sides of the house to support the quick passage of this legislation when it comes before the house to make sure that it is passed as soon as it can be.
The Surrogacy Bill 2008 will be an interesting exercise in this house. For members’ information, the Liberal Party has agreed that its members will have a free vote on the bill, just as they did on the Surrogacy Bill 2007. I do not know whether Labor Party members have chosen to do the same thing they did when they voted on the Surrogacy Bill 2007. Instead of doing what we normally do when voting—that is, all opposition members move to one side of the house and all government members go to the other—all new members will, on the first piece of legislation they will debate, have to work out in advance what they think are the issues in the bill and make up their own minds about how they will vote. To do that, all new members must be fully informed. A collective briefing will be held for all members of Parliament, at which advice will be given on the matters relating to the Surrogacy Bill. When the bill was last debated, the former Minister for Health and I were on the same side; we supported the recommendations of the bill. I hope that once again I will have the member for Fremantle’s support to pass the bill. The former government’s Surrogacy Bill was sent to the other place and amendments were made to it, which were supported by that house. Sadly, however, because the former government called an early election, the legislation was unable to proceed. That is very sad for all the women and families who were desperate to use the provisions in that legislation so that they could have children. If Parliament had come back for just one more day, we could have passed that legislation and it would have been the law in the state today. However, because the former Premier of the Labor Party chose to call an early election, everyone who wanted this legislation passed was bitterly disappointed. Sadly, it is not possible to bring this legislation forward as an urgent bill. I give a commitment from members on this side of the house that it will be the first legislation we debate. However, as members know, no member is able to speak on any matter before the house until they have spoken on the Address-in-Reply. If we were to suspend standing orders and bring forward the surrogacy legislation, any member who spoke on the legislation would have to use that speech as their Address-in-Reply speech. That is not acceptable to me and I am sure that it is not acceptable to the new members of the house who want to make their maiden speech properly. I ask the opposition and individual members from both sides of the house to support the quick passage of this legislation when it comes before the house to make sure that it is passed as soon as it can be.
When the bill was last debated, the former Minister for Health and I were on the same side; we supported the recommendations of the bill. I hope that once again I will have the member for Fremantle’s support to pass the bill. The former government’s Surrogacy Bill was sent to the other place and amendments were made to it, which were supported by that house. Sadly, however, because the former government called an early election, the legislation was unable to proceed. That is very sad for all the women and families who were desperate to use the provisions in that legislation so that they could have children. If Parliament had come back for just one more day, we could have passed that legislation and it would have been the law in the state today. However, because the former Premier of the Labor Party chose to call an early election, everyone who wanted this legislation passed was bitterly disappointed. Sadly, it is not possible to bring this legislation forward as an urgent bill. I give a commitment from members on this side of the house that it will be the first legislation we debate. However, as members know, no member is able to speak on any matter before the house until they have spoken on the Address-in-Reply. If we were to suspend standing orders and bring forward the surrogacy legislation, any member who spoke on the legislation would have to use that speech as their Address-in-Reply speech. That is not acceptable to me and I am sure that it is not acceptable to the new members of the house who want to make their maiden speech properly. I ask the opposition and individual members from both sides of the house to support the quick passage of this legislation when it comes before the house to make sure that it is passed as soon as it can be.
Sadly, it is not possible to bring this legislation forward as an urgent bill. I give a commitment from members on this side of the house that it will be the first legislation we debate. However, as members know, no member is able to speak on any matter before the house until they have spoken on the Address-in-Reply. If we were to suspend standing orders and bring forward the surrogacy legislation, any member who spoke on the legislation would have to use that speech as their Address-in-Reply speech. That is not acceptable to me and I am sure that it is not acceptable to the new members of the house who want to make their maiden speech properly. I ask the opposition and individual members from both sides of the house to support the quick passage of this legislation when it comes before the house to make sure that it is passed as soon as it can be.
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