Worth Richard: Wills Bill — In Committee 
Worth Richard: Wills Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:641;Page:10877] 
Dr RICHARD WORTH (National) 
: 
 This is probably a day for St Bede’s College old boys because I join with others in condemning why it is necessary so late in the piece to have these last-minute changes. If one looks at the legislative history of the Wills Bill it is to be seen that it was first introduced on 8 September 2006 it had its first reading and was referred to the Justice and Electoral Committee on 10 October 2006 and those who have charge of this legislation and those who are responsible for the process of parliamentary business in the House came to the clear view that the legislation should take effect from a date described in clause 4 as 1 July 2007. 
 I do not doubt—as Dr Mapp has wisely said to members of the Committee—that it is grossly unsatisfactory that we should be presented with three Supplementary Order Papers some of which are of major significance. For a moment I dwell on Supplementary Order Paper 129. Now these are not minor issues at all. There are typographical errors in this legislation. I would have thought that a careful and conscientious Associate Minister of Justice would have read carefully through the Wills Bill and identified where these gross spelling and grammar errors have occurred. It is not as if the Associate Minister carries a substantial bunch of responsibilities. He is a Minister who has time on his hands to carefully survey legislation and identify points of difficulty and difference. Has he done that? No he has not. That is just one change that we are confronted with in Supplementary Order Paper 129 a document that is short but not without substance. 
The second change is an important change in the context of those who take an interest in military issues which is that an amendment in the Supplementary Order Paper allows members of the armed forces to make informal wills even if they are under 18 years if they are on active operations or if they are at sea. This is something which has been very much treasured by the military; it is a part of the history of the military aspect in will-making that there has existed—from time immemorial almost—this opportunity of such informal wills. 
But I want to focus on the third point which is the point that Christopher Finlayson shadow Attorney-General has raised with members of the Committee and that is the commencement date. I just wonder why those who are so much of the St Bede’s College persuasion who have time on their hands did not have a bit of a think about why 2 November would not be a better date than 1 November. So I would just like to dwell for a moment on that and extend the arguments that Christopher Finlayson has made about the importance of All Souls’ Day 2 November and to suggest not that date but another date. All Fools’ Day might be a better date for seeing this legislation in place given the delays that occurred. 
All Souls’ Day is 2 November as the Minister well knows and that is the day that Roman Catholics devote to prayer and alms-giving on behalf of the faithful and the departed. My understanding—and I am not a Catholic—is that according to tradition a pilgrim returning from the Holy Land took refuge on a rocky island during a storm. There he met a hermit who told him that among the cliffs was an opening to the infernal regions through which flames ascended and where the groans of the tormented were distinctly audible. The pilgrim—and I see the member and the Minister acknowledging their knowledge of the history of this matter—told Odilo the abbot of Cluny who appointed the day following 2 November to be set aside for the benefit of those souls in purgatory. 
I think we need just for a moment to reflect on what the importance of this legislation is. Not many statutes go way way back to 1837. We are talking about imperial law here. I believe that the Minister owed it to this Parliament to get the commencement date right. He had that opportunity when he carefully nominated the date which he did and now I would suggest that 2 November All Souls’ Day is on any view of it a much better date.