Page 5676 - Week 15 - Thursday, 10 December 2009
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This week the Liberal Party has proposed that we add two extra sitting weeks to our sitting program to bring us to a total of 16 sitting weeks. The Greens do not support this proposal as we believe the Assembly has been able to deal effectively with the amount of business it has had over the past few years, and particularly the past year, in the 14 sitting weeks that have been the average number of sitting weeks the Assembly has had over the last few years.
We note also the importance of committee business, which we have already discussed this afternoon, and the amount of time that MLAs spend in committee meetings and hearings. We would like to retain the current amount of time that is available to committees so that we can effectively investigate policy and issues via committee business. We must remember that the committees are the main opportunity for the community and non-government organisations to provide input via public hearings and submissions. It is the main opportunity for the community, which I imagine we are trying to consider in this debate, to come and present their views publicly to the Assembly.
Taking annual reports as an example, the number of questions that MLAs can fit into a hearing far outnumbers those which can be pursued via a sitting week and question time. It is also the primary opportunity for members to question ministers and departmental officials. I note that the Greens also put forward changes to question time. This has extended the number of supplementary questions that members can ask ministers and has obviously made a big difference to question time. I think Mrs Dunne should also be noting that. She did not mention it in her speech.
The Greens note the achievements that can be made through private members day. It can be disappointing when we are unable to complete all six items that are listed for debate. For that reason, the Greens would like to see debate continue on Wednesdays until all six items have been completed or until we reach 9 pm, whichever comes first. I note that we can do that already under standing orders. Perhaps this is something we will have to pursue in time. It is something we would like to see—late sittings on Wednesdays becoming a permanent feature. We put this proposal to both the Labor and Liberal parties. I did not receive any feedback from that proposal from either party.
With regard to the debate of the ACT government’s budget, I note the very late Thursday nights we have and the impact this has on all MLAs and staff within this building, but particularly the Secretariat and attendants. For that reason we would like to see the budget debate finish at a reasonable time on Thursday night and then flow over to Friday for conclusion. I think we would be able to have a reasonably full debate about the budget in a more appropriate time frame. Friday sittings would allow issues to be pursued in a more thorough manner. Mr Corbell has said that such a move can be achieved under current standing orders. I look forward to us making such a change and also receiving support from all parties next year. That would be nice.
The final item I would like to discuss is lunch hours, which I think is interesting in this debate. I note that both the Liberal and Labor parties made representations on this and requested that another half hour be allocated to the lunch break.
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