More than 10 Bills for 2023.
More than 10 key Bills will be brought to Parliament this year, the Governor General His Excellency Sir David Vunagi has announced while delivering the Speech from the Throne in Parliament this morning.
These bills have been carried forward from last year.
“Several reforms are expected in our electoral laws that will require some legislative changes,” underlined the Governor General.
He explained, the Electoral Act 2018 will be amended to accommodate these reforms. The Provincial Government Act and the Honiara City Act will similarly undergo amendments.
This is to synchronise the election of the provinces and Honiara City to occur together with the National General Election in 2024 to save costs and for easier election management.
The Special Economic Zone Bill is also anticipated to be brought to Parliament during this meeting. This is a strategic move by the Government to transform the country’s investment attraction strategy, which for years had been taking a passive approach, clarified the Governor General.
The Bill now in its final drafting stage will be brought to Cabinet in May and tabled in Parliament after endorsement by Cabinet.
This law is designed to broaden the country’s economic base.
Other Bills that are expected to come to Cabinet by June this year for Parliament’s eventual deliberation are;
- Constituency Development Fund (Amendment) Bill;
- Public Health Emergency Bill;
- Mineral Resource Bill 2023;
- Electricity (Amendment) Bill;
- Petroleum (Amendment) Bill.
- Education Bill;
- Forestry Bill;
- Building Code Bill;
- Environment Bill;
- Pacific Games 2023 (Amendment) Bill
- Value Added Tax Bill.
-PM Press Sec