Abstract
This chapter sets out evidence of the hidden or behind-the-scenes impact of the four parliamentary committees on the case study Acts. ‘Hidden impact’ means the role a parliamentary committee, or the system of committees, plays in the pre-introduction development of a Bill. This type of impact is described as ‘hidden’ as it often occurs prior to a Bill being introduced into Parliament and concerns the activities of public servants and parliamentary counsel, outside of the public gaze. This chapter focuses particularly on the role of public servants, parliamentary counsel and parliamentary committee staff and gathers evidence and insights from interviews with these key players in the process. This chapter further develops the findings made in Chap. 6 to identify some key features of an emerging rights scrutiny culture within the Australian Parliament, whilst also identifying the barriers key ‘behind the scenes’ participants face when seeking to improve the rights compliance of Australia’s counter-terrorism laws.
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Notes
- 1.
As noted in Chap. 2, as part of this research, I interviewed public servants who were directly responsible for developing or drafting the case study Bills, including those from the AGD, Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP), AFP and OPC. I also conducted interviews with current and past parliamentarians and parliamentary staff. Although not statistically representative, these interviews provide a useful insight into the role parliamentary committees play in the development of proposed laws from the perspective of a broad range of players in the legislative development and drafting process. Further information about the interview selection process is contained in Moulds 2018 Appendix A.
- 2.
A full list of interviews conducted for this research is available at Moulds 2018 Appendix A.
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Moulds, S. (2020). Hidden Impact. In: Committees of Influence. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4350-0_7
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