Page 127 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 13 February 2008
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employment agents will not be to the detriment of Canberra residents at large. Recruitment agencies and employment consultants in the ACT will continue to provide a service in a highly competitive market. Their behaviour will be controlled by the market, other heads of law and, in most cases, a code of professional conduct that places more onerous requirements on businesses than does ACT regulation.
It is probably a matter of record that in general I favour minimal government involvement in business. This bill seeks to remove superfluous government interference in an industry that is performing a vital role in the ACT. The current licensing requirements achieve nothing more than the placing of an administrative and financial impost on ACT businesses. I commend this bill to the Assembly and I hope that it will receive the support of both major parties and the Greens.
Mr Speaker, I would also seek leave to table the RCSA code of professional practice that I have referred to, for the information and interest of members of the Assembly.
Leave granted.
MR MULCAHY: I present the following paper:
Recruitment and Consulting Services Association (RCSA)—Copy of Code for Professional Conduct.
Debate (on motion by Mr Corbell) adjourned to the next sitting.
Courts (Judicial Appointments) Amendment Bill 2008
Mr Seselja, pursuant to notice, presented the bill.
Title read by Clerk.
MR SESELJA (Molonglo—Leader of the Opposition) (10.48): I move:
That this bill be agreed to in principle.
I rise to present this bill today to amend the Magistrates Court Act and the Supreme Court Act. Decisions around the appointment of judges and magistrates are amongst the most important decisions made by governments. The community invests significant trust in judicial officers, and their decisions in turn affect the community in a profound way. It is therefore crucial that we look at ways of making the process for their appointment as open and transparent as possible.
This bill is aimed at improving the mechanism for appointing judges and magistrates by giving a level of public scrutiny which has not occurred before. It finds a middle path between the current method of appointment and a judicial appointments commission, which had been called for by some in the community. This bill introduces a mechanism by which the executive must consult and take advice from the appropriate Legislative Assembly committee before making a decision regarding the appointment of a judge or magistrate. The appropriate committee is either the legal affairs committee or another standing committee nominated by the Speaker.
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