Mr TARZIA (Hartley) (12:09): I wish to inform this place that I am not the lead speaker on this bill.
An honourable member interjecting:
Mr TARZIA: No—fortunately. Although the Catholics on this side of the chamber do have to stick together, Deputy Speaker, I still will not be the lead speaker. I rise to support this bill. Firstly, in speaking to the bill, I acknowledge the hard work of the Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide and all that they do. In fact, I had the pleasure at the weekend of listening to the His Grace, the Archbishop of Adelaide, Philip Wilson, at the Madonna Delle Grazie Di Panduri in Payneham, a feast just outside my electorate.
In the past, he has been ably supported by Father Philip Marshall, the Vicar-General. Father Marshall was actually parish priest of Hectorville in the electorate of Hartley for many years and also the parish administrator of Tranmere. I think it is fitting, in talking to this bill, to acknowledge and thank the archdiocese for the commendable work they do for the Catholic Church in Adelaide, as well as the priests, nuns, pastoral councils, volunteers and people who support the church.
The bill seeks to amend the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide Charitable Trust Act 1981. Originally, it was obviously put in place to create a Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide Charitable Trust as a corporation to take over and, I suppose, administer certain existing trusts and charitable undertakings within the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide, including the Catholic Church Endowment Society Inc., the Goodwood Orphanage, the Largs Bay Orphanage and the St John's boys home, as well as property that was held in some of these institutions.
The act, I will note for this place, provides for the certain appointment of trustees to administer the trust, those being, for example, the archbishop, a nominee of the archbishop, the provincial of the Sisters of Mercy Adelaide or her nominee, the provincial of the Sisters of St Joseph or her nominee, and the provincial of the Salesians of St John Bosco or his nominee. I am looking at section 4A of the bill. I note that one of the entities—the Sisters of Mercy Adelaide—has actually changed, restructured and merged into a new entity, that being the Sisters of Mercy of Australia & Papua New Guinea.
This bill has originated from a request of the archdiocese, and I think it is important to note that so that we amend it to accommodate any change or any future restructure of the trustee entities, subject to the archbishop certifying in writing that the restructured entity is the effective successor to the former entity, without the need for further amendments to the act. It is also important to note that this bill allows an element of flexibility, and it is important that future restructures of any of the trustee entities are allowed to be made without, I suppose, the need for future further amendments to the act. This would make sense for future efficiency and for the best use of time for this place especially. I commend the bill to the house, and once again acknowledge the great work that the Catholic archbishop and his archdiocese does in Adelaide.
