Page 2045 - Week 07 - Thursday, 16 June 1994
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Madam Speaker, the arguments do not need to be stated at great length. Those who have read the report, which is still to be considered by the Government and by the Assembly, will be aware of the nature of the concerns that were put to the committee and which, I think, will have longstanding ramifications when the legislation is put into place. I think it is appropriate that a committee of this Assembly should accept the responsibility of oversighting that legislation, when it is subsequently passed, to ensure that the best interests of the community are taken into account and to inform the Assembly from time to time of matters that it has taken under its terms of reference and considered in detail. I commend the motion to the Assembly.
MR BERRY (11.46): Madam Speaker, I rise to indicate that the Government will agree to the amendments and to the motion. Mr Kaine has put it quite succinctly, but I should add that it is important that this committee have the standing required in the community to ensure that the community is satisfied that there is proper scrutiny of the Public Sector Management Act. Much debate is yet to be heard on that subject; but this committee will serve a useful purpose in the scheme of things, so the Government will be supporting the motion.
Amendments agreed to.
MADAM SPEAKER: The question now is: That the motion, as amended, be agreed to.
MS SZUTY (11.47): Madam Speaker, when I spoke to the report of the select committee on the ACT public service, I emphasised the importance of a committee of the Assembly having an ongoing role in overseeing the transition to a separate ACT public service. Mr Kaine's motion is about the formation of that committee. It has been suggested that the committee could also adopt a broader brief to examine matters of public sector reform, and that may well be an issue that the committee, once it is established, can look at. Mr Moore and I have discussed the position of the Independent member of the proposed committee. While I think it is fair to say that we both have a genuine interest in public sector reform and the important transition to a separate ACT public service, we have agreed that I will nominate for membership of the committee. My membership of the committee will continue the role that I have had for almost 12 months now as a member of the select committee on the ACT public service. I see it as useful for the Assembly to have me continue my association with these issues.
MR LAMONT (Minister for Urban Services, Minister for Housing and Community Services, Minister for Industrial Relations and Minister for Sport) (11.48): Madam Speaker, I want to re-emphasise a number of points. The first is that the amendments that have been moved and accepted create a standing committee of the Assembly. It is appropriate, in my view, that it be a standing committee, to send a quite clear message to us as an Assembly but certainly to our Government Service and the wider community that this Assembly treats with due process the questions of administration of our public service. It should be an ongoing function of this Assembly to review change which governments initiate within the government sector and to oversight the period of transition to a separate ACT Government Service. The maturity of the Assembly over the five years since self-government has been significant, as the maturity of our own service from 1 July will be.
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