I've been in Australia seven years now and just now discovered that the bills before Parliament are made public. Why did this take so long?? Because there is no journalistic coverage of pending bills, and I haven't encountered debate of bills specifically. Maybe they're considered too esoteric and boring. What gets reported are soap opera dramas about political personalities; who's up, who's down, and only vague statements about how the Prime Minister is trying to push something through. Few details are offered on the details of any specific bill.
As a direct personal experience with how the system works, when I was approaching the date to apply for citizenship, the news reported that they were considering changing the requirement to an extra five years of residency. There was no specific legislation or bill cited; just "The Prime Minister has said...". Yet on the basis of that, I was told by the immigration department that they were no longer processing any applications pending resolution of this proposal. I waited. And after waiting some more, decided I should just file my paperwork anyway. I had to pay a processing fee, still not knowing whether that fee might be refunded. Later I heard that it was definite - the required time as a permanent resident before one could apply for citizenship had been extended to five years. It sounded like I was not going to be allowed to be a citizen for another three years. But then, later, it was announced that those eligible by a certain date would still be allowed to apply. Was it a bill that passed? It all seemed like someone's whim. Was the bill passed and then amended? In spite of how important this issue was for many people, it was not reported, other than indirectly.
At least now I know there are bills, written down and published online - not just politicians in a back room debating things, and in public, shouting and accusing each other of malfeasance.
Bills before Parliament
