Commonwealth 'must lead debate'

Chris Merritt | May 23, 2008

THE commonwealth, rather than Victoria, should be taking the lead in the debate over the future of electronic conveyancing, according to shadow attorney-general George Brandis.

"There has been a lot of rhetoric from the Rudd Government about this but there has been silence in terms of practical solutions," Senator Brandis said.

He was concerned at attempts to exclude the Law Council of Australia and the Australian Bankers Association from the process of developing the new system.

If these two groups were not involved, there was a risk that the future of e-conveyancing would be determined by a debate among bureaucrats about what system worked best for them.

Instead, governments should be designing a system based on what worked best for those groups involved in conveyancing, Senator Brandis said.

"It is time for the commonwealth Attorney-General to show leadership."

Electronic conveyancing had long been on the agenda of the standing committee of attorneys-general and had been "effectively stalemated since before the change of government".

"This is a classic issue of co-operative federalism in which the commonwealth can take a lead by co-ordinating the policy position of the states and territories."

It would test the Government's claim that the federation would work more co-operatively because Labor was in office in every jurisdiction, Senator Brandis said.

Alternate news story

May 22, 2008 (The Australian - ABIX via COMTEX) -- -- George Brandis, of the Liberal Party of Australia, is the Australian shadow attorney-general. He argues that the Australian Government should take the lead in the debate over the future of electronic conveyancing in Australia. He believes that the state of Victoria should not be allowed to dictate the terms of this debate. Brandis said that the Law Council of Australia and the Australian Bankers' Association must be involved in the process of developing an electronic conveyancing system across the nation. Brandis wants the Australian Government to step up and show leadership.