Criminal Code and Other Legislation (Ministerial Accountability) Amendment Bill 2019*

An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Parliament of Queensland Act 2001 for particular purposes

1Short title

This Act may be cited as the Criminal Code and Other Legislation (Ministerial Accountability) Amendment Act 2019.

2Code amended

This part amends the Criminal Code.

3Amendment of s 1 (Definitions)

Section 1—
insert—

declarable conflict of interest, for part 3, chapter 13A, see section 97B.

executive officer, of an entity, for part 3, chapter 13A, see section 97A.

interest, for part 3, chapter 13A, see section 97A.related party, of a Minister, for part 3, chapter 13A, see section 97C.

4Insertion of new pt 3, ch 13A

Part 3—
insert—

Chapter 13A Ministers’ conflicts of interest

97ADefinitions for chapter

In this chapter—

declarable conflict of interest see section 97B.

executive officer, of an entity, means a person who is concerned with, or takes part in, the entity’s management, whether or not the person’s position is given the name of executive officer.

interest means a financial or other interest.

related party, of a Minister, see section 97C.

97BWhat is a declarable conflict of interest

(1)A Minister has a declarable conflict of interest in a matter if—

(a)either of the following persons has, or could reasonably be presumed to have, a conflict between the person’s personal interest in the matter and the public interest—

(i)the Minister;

(ii)a related party of the Minister; and

(b)because of the conflict, the Minister’s participation in a decision about the matter might lead to a decision that is contrary to the public interest.

(2)However, a Minister does not have a declarable conflict of interest in a matter if—

(a)the conflict of interest arises solely because—

(i)the Minister undertakes an engagement in the capacity of Minister for a community group, sporting club or similar organisation, and is not appointed as an executive officer of the organisation; or

(ii)the Minister, or a related party of the Minister, is a member of a community group, sporting club or similar organisation, and is not appointed as an executive officer of the organisation; or

(iii)the Minister, or a related party of the Minister, is a member of a political party; or

(iv)the Minister, or a related party of the Minister, has an interest in an educational facility or provider of a child care service as a student or former student, or a parent or grandparent of a student, of the facility or service; or

(b)the conflict of interest arises solely because of the religious beliefs of the Minister or a related party of the Minister; or

(c)the Minister, or a related party of the Minister, stands to gain a benefit or suffer a loss because of the conflict of interest that is no greater than the benefit or loss that a significant proportion of persons in Queensland stand to gain or lose; or

(d)the conflict of interest arises solely because the Minister, or a related party of the Minister, receives gifts from an entity totalling $150 or less during the relevant term for the Minister.

(3)In this section—

election see the Electoral Act 1992, section 2.

relevant term, for a Minister, means the period consisting of the Minister’s current term of office as a member of the Legislative Assembly and either of the following periods—

(a)if the Minister held office as a member of the Legislative Assembly for a term during the session of the Legislative Assembly immediately before the current session—the period of that term;

(b)if paragraph (a) does not apply, the period—

(i)starting on the day the Minister announced or otherwise publicly indicated an intention to be a candidate in the election in which the Minister was elected for the Minister’s current term of office as a member of the Legislative Assembly; and

(ii)ending on the day immediately before the Minister’s current term of office as a member of the Legislative Assembly started.

97CWho is a related party of a Minister

A person is a related party of a Minister if the person is any of the following—

(a)the Minister’s spouse;

(b)a parent, child or sibling of the Minister;

(c)a parent, child or sibling of the Minister’s spouse;

(d)a partner in a partnership in which the Minister is a partner;

(e)an employer of the Minister, other than a government entity;

(f)an entity, other than a government entity, for which the Minister is an executive officer or board member;

(g)another person who has a close personal relationship with the Minister.

97DMinister must inform meeting of Cabinet or Cabinet committee of declarable conflict of interest

(1)This section applies if—

(a)a matter is to be discussed at a meeting of Cabinet or a Cabinet committee; and

(b)a Minister is aware, or ought reasonably to be aware, the Minister has a declarable conflict of interest in the matter.

(2)The Minister must inform the meeting of the declarable conflict of interest, including—

(a)the nature of the declarable conflict of interest; and

(b)if the declarable conflict of interest arises because of the interest of a related party of the Minister—

(i)the name of the related party; and

(ii)the nature of the Minister’s relationship with the related party; and

(iii)the nature of the related party’s interest in the matter; and

(c)if the declarable conflict of interest arises because of the receipt of a gift or loan from another person—

(i)the name of the other person; and

(ii)if the declarable conflict of interest involves an interest of the Minister—the nature of the other person’s relationship with the Minister; and

(iii)if the declarable conflict of interest involves an interest of a related party of the Minister—the nature of the other person’s relationship with the related party; and

(iv)the nature of the other person’s interest in the matter; and

(v)the value of the gift or loan, and the date the gift was given or the loan was made.

Maximum penalty—100 penalty units or 1 year’s imprisonment.

5Act amended

This part amends the Parliament of Queensland Act 2001.

6Amendment of s 69B (Statements of interests)

Section 69B—
insert—

(2A)If a member who is a Minister contravenes subsection (2), the member is guilty of an offence.

Maximum penalty—100 penalty units.

7Insertion of new ch 10, pt 9

Chapter 10—
insert—

Part 9 Criminal Code and Other Legislation (Ministerial Accountability) Amendment Act 2019

180Notification by Ministers of changes in particulars in statements of interests

(1)This section applies if—

(a)within 1 month before the commencement, a member who is a Minister became aware of a change in the particulars contained in the last statement of interests given by the Minister under section 69B; and

(b)immediately before the commencement, the Minister had not complied with section 69B(2) in relation to the change.

(2)For applying section 69B as in force from the commencement, the member is taken to have become aware of the change in particulars on the commencement.

(3)In this section—

statement of interests see section 69A.