Page 1790 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 15 June 1993
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COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENTS MEETING
Ministerial Statement and Paper
MS FOLLETT (Chief Minister and Treasurer): Mr Deputy Speaker, I seek leave of the Assembly to make a ministerial statement on the meeting of the Council of Australian Governments.
Leave granted.
MS FOLLETT: I thank members. Mr Deputy Speaker, in accordance with the practice adopted by successive ACT governments of reporting on major intergovernmental forums, I take this opportunity to inform the Assembly of the outcome of the second meeting of the Council of Australian Governments held in Melbourne over 8 and 9 June 1993.
The council, or COAG as it is known, has been established with the aim of increasing cooperation among governments in the national interest. Of course, it is inevitable that a gathering of all Australia's heads of government provides a forum for consideration of matters which at the time of the meeting are a source of tension between governments. At the first meeting of COAG, in Perth in December 1992, this was the case in relation to industrial relations matters. As members will be aware from extensive media coverage, the source of most tension and discussion at last week's meeting of COAG relates to the development of a national response to the High Court decision on Mabo. Without a doubt, Mabo was the important issue before COAG on this occasion. It certainly deserved the attention and time it received and I will inform members of the outcomes of these discussions on Mabo in my statement today.
Members will also be aware that COAG considered a wide range of other nationally important matters, and I would first like to inform you of the outcome of these deliberations. Heads of government have acted decisively to reduce by more than half the number of ministerial councils. This reduction, from an existing 45 councils to 21, will be initiated immediately, with support structures being reviewed by January 1994. As well as considering the appropriate number of councils, COAG also agreed to implement a range of measures aimed at improving the overall efficiency and effectiveness of ministerial council operations. These measures will have significant benefits for all States and Territories, particularly smaller jurisdictions such as the ACT that have, up until now, laboured under the burden of participating in a growing number of councils.
The decision on this matter by heads of government will lead to a reduction in the costs associated with providing administrative support to councils as well as of travel and accommodation costs incurred by both Ministers and officials attending council meetings. Furthermore, the reforms outlined by the review and endorsed by heads of government will have enormous advantages in terms of operational efficiency and improvements in the quality of policy development emanating from the remaining councils. In particular, these councils should now be better placed to take a more strategic rather than sectoral view of issues, leaving the more procedural matters to be dealt with by officials. I am especially proud of the reforms agreed upon by leaders on this matter as they have originated from a review which I proposed at the COAG meeting last December. It is also a clear indication that heads of government are able to lead by example in applying discipline and streamlining of their own activities.
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