Page 357 - Week 01 - Thursday, 11 December 2008
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The Government and the Legislative Assembly Secretariat finalise their discussions on creating an appropriate framework within which to apply the Latimer House principles to the ACT and report to the Legislative Assembly before the last sitting day of the Sixth Assembly.
Obviously, that did not occur but we now have the opportunity to create this appropriate framework in the Seventh Assembly. And Ms Hunter’s motion coming up after this discussion will address that issue. Whilst it is pleasing to see this motion of endorsement of the Latimer House principles in our first sitting week, endorsement is obviously only the beginning of the process; there is more work to be done.
Because this Seventh Assembly is somewhat different to the Sixth Assembly, it would not surprise anyone, I am sure, to see the Greens’ proposal that the process of developing this framework be inclusive of all parties. We must be prepared, in the spirit of the Latimer House principles, to have a democratic, transparent and accountable process and subject the process and outcomes to an evaluation over this term of the Assembly. To this end, Ms Hunter will be introducing her motion after this discussion.
As mentioned, there are a number of elements within the Latimer House principles that I would like to briefly touch on. Firstly, the separation of powers in the roles of the three arms of government. Unlike any other jurisdiction, the ACT does not have a constitution or a formal separation of powers. It is up to the Assembly to ensure that we perform our functions appropriately and are aware of the limits of those functions. Currently there are not infrequent conflicts and disputes between the judiciary, JACS and government. Our hope and aim is to resolve these conflicts and provide better delineation of the divide between the roles and functions of the various organs of government.
The Latimer House principles are a broad-ranging set of ideals that not only cover the structure of the institutions of government but also provide a statement recognising the role of civil society. To this end, I would like to touch on the educative role that the Assembly ought to play in the engagement of members of the community, be this through the education office or the use of facilities such as function rooms or the decision to have sittings at different hours, allowing members of the public greater opportunity to watch Assembly proceedings and understand the process that leads to the creation of the laws for our society. This is why we will now be moving to evening sittings during 2009 and for the rest of the term.
We must all work to ensure a constructive relationship with the community where all Canberrans feel that the Assembly wants to hear what they have to say and that they have the chance to participate in the decision-making process; that is, their input will be genuinely considered in the development of policy and initiatives.
The principles also make particular mention of funding for the judiciary and judicial process. This includes bodies such as the Legal Aid Commission and the ACT Department of Public Prosecutions as well as community legal centres, who make a vital contribution not only to the protection of individuals’ rights and interests but also to the development of better legislation and legal processes.
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