Page 1278 - Week 04 - Thursday, 10 April 2008
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on the advice given in relation to paragraph (1) or given permission for the records to be produced to the Assembly.
(4) The Ethics and Integrity Adviser is to meet at least annually with the Standing Committee on Administration and Procedure for a discussion on matters raised and possible proposals to address them.
(5) The Ethics and Integrity Adviser shall report to the Assembly on an annual basis detailing the number of ethical matters raised with him/her and the number of Members who sought advice on any issues concerning Members’ entitlements that have given rise to requests for ethics advice and suggest proposals to address these issues.
(6) The Speaker shall, after each Assembly is elected or whenever the office becomes vacant, appoint an Ethics and Integrity Adviser for the life of that Assembly.
(7) Before appointing an Adviser, the Speaker shall consult with the Chief Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and Crossbench Members.
(8) The Ethics and Integrity Adviser may resign in writing to the Speaker, or may be removed from office for proved misbehaviour or mental incapacity on a resolution agreed to by the Assembly.
This resolution has effect from the date of its agreement by the Legislative Assembly and continues in force unless amended or repealed by this or a subsequent Assembly.
I am moving this motion today because, after almost 19 years of self-government, I take the view that the ACT Legislative Assembly needs to ensure that it remains at the forefront of developments in parliamentary best practice. This, in effect, is an incremental improvement in that direction.
At the last sitting, we comprehensively amended our standing orders to ensure that this place operates effectively and keeps up with similar practices in other legislatures. Many of the changes were designed to simplify the language used, but amongst the changes there was some reform to the way we operate things such as citizens’ right of reply and protection of witnesses who appear before our committees; clarification of our privileges and how breaches are dealt with; and codification of how the principle of sub judice operates.
Many of the laws we pass in this place are enacted after governments examine best practice in other jurisdictions and then submit a bill to give effect to that best practice. Yet we do not often look at our own practices to see whether we as a legislature are keeping up with innovations that are being adopted by other legislatures. I see that as part of my role.
The New South Wales parliament has had a parliamentary ethics adviser since 2001; the Queensland parliament established an integrity commissioner in 2000. In 1995, the United Kingdom established a parliamentary commissioner for standards to provide advice on a confidential basis to individual members about the interpretation
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