Page 2364 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 16 June 2009
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The Chief Minister said we did not focus on the economics of it. In fact, to give her her due, the Treasurer turned up for a full day. That is 100 per cent more than the old Treasurer used to turn up for, because we were lucky to get him for half a day to discuss matters economic. Indeed, last year, of course, we had the huge kerfuffle where the Treasurer actually wanted to appear midway through the estimates hearings because he had already made arrangements, even though he knew that these days had been set aside the previous December when the calendar was set. He did not want to come on the day that was set. (Time expired).
MS BURCH (Brindabella) (4.45): I welcome the opportunity to speak here today on the matter of public importance. One of the cornerstones of this government’s approach to the 2008 election was openness and accountability. In entrusting the leadership of the government of the ACT to Labor, the people of Canberra expressed their faith in our approach and our policies. We have a mandate to get on with the job of implementing those policies.
In establishing government following the last election, the ALP signed a parliamentary agreement with the Greens. A major element of that agreement focused on reforms to our parliamentary system. In total, there were 44 commitments on parliamentary reform agreed on 31 October 2008. Of these, by 16 February 2009, less than four months later, we had implemented 20 of them in full. These include: all parties in the Assembly now have a member on the administration and procedure committee; a non-government member chairs the Standing Committee on Public Accounts and the Select Committee on Estimates; a new standing order is in place to resolve disputes for orders for papers, through the provision of an independent arbiter to determine whether a claim of executive privilege is legitimate; we have endorsed the Latimer principles, through the passage of a standing resolution of the Assembly; and we have removed provisions in the FOI Act to no longer allow for conclusive certificates except where they provide for the protection of national security information held by the territory.
When we next meet with the ACT Greens, towards the end of this month, we expect to agree that even more of these initiatives have been completed in full. The implementation of these parliamentary reforms contributes to a more open and accountable government, and we have been determined to implement these reforms in the shortest possible time. Of course, one of the first initiatives actioned from the Labor-Greens agreement was to relocate the community engagement unit to the Chief Minister’s Department.
But our work on open and accountable government goes well back before the election. It has been something that this government has focused on for some time. Our government is open and accountable. But we do not limit that openness and accountability to members of this Assembly. As it should be, we consider ourselves to be ultimately accountable to the people of the ACT.
Since the 2008 election, this government has embarked on an unprecedented level of consultation and interaction with the people of Canberra. In fact, there has been so much consultation that in some circles, and even through the opposition and media, the government now receives some criticism for its willingness to share so much
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