The Australian Greens support a drone registration levy, to fund and support appropriate regulation of a rapidly expanding and changing sector. However the reliance of delegated legislation for this framework reflects a concerning pattern. As the main Committee report notes, the Scrutiny of Bills Committee has highlighted questions around “the appropriateness of leaving virtually all of the details of the operation of the proposed unmanned aircraft levy scheme to delegated legislation.”
The Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Delegated Legislation is currently undertaking an inquiry into the Exemption of delegated legislation from parliamentary oversight. In a submission to that inquiry, the Centre for Public Integrity stated that:
We welcome the Government’s decision to use disallowable instruments for this scheme, rather than exempting them from disallowance. However the Australian Greens share the concerns of the Centre for Public Integrity at the expanding use of delegated legislation.