Page 3875 - Week 09 - Thursday, 25 August 2011
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They will very much be engaged with other stakeholders. That will be the University of Canberra and it will be CIT, as well as unions. There are a number of unions who cover this area; there are at least three of them. And also, of course, there will be student representation, which is incredibly important in this. I am very supportive; students should be very integral in this process of looking at the way forward. I will be regularly in contact and I will be looking closely to make sure that those other stakeholders who will be engaging with the steering group are going to be genuinely and properly engaged. My understanding is that they will be meeting very frequently with the steering group to be very much part of the process of looking at what is being put on the table.
Under that there will be the project group. Treasury will be looking at the financials. They will be looking at that in great detail to then be able to present that to the steering group and those other stakeholders. I will be keeping a very close eye on that.
Unfortunately, this morning Mr Doszpot has put a motion on the table that is probably premature. It is too early; it is too soon; it is premature. That is my issue with what Mr Doszpot has put forward. I do not have an issue with his intent around scrutiny. I think that that is right: this house does need to have involvement in whatever comes up or whatever is put on the table. The standing committee on education and training does need to play a role. That is why I have put into my proposed amendment that that still has to occur. Once legislation is introduced into this house, it does need to be sent off for proper inquiry by that standing committee.
I have also put into my amendment that the minister will report to this Assembly to give us updates on the Bradley reforms. It is important that we are kept up to date. I hear that the minister has offered other briefings; I am sure that members will be glad to take up those briefings. But it would be good to get some regular report back on what is going on with the process.
That is where I have picked up on what Mr Doszpot has, I think, been attempting to do. I think the idea was that we do need to have some engagement or scrutiny by the Assembly. It is just the timing he has put in and also the very narrow focus he put into his motion, which is very narrowly focused on the financial part of it. I think that it needs to be broader than that. The financial aspects are important, but we need to be considering all the other aspects. One of those, quite clearly, is the educational benefit that might come from a new establishment or the establishment of a new institution.
That is why the proposed amendments ensure that the committee will look at the issue but equally that all the follow-up work will have been done and all the stakeholders will have had the opportunity to participate in the process. When and if the government decides to proceed with the establishment of a new institution and introduces legislation to that effect, a committee inquiry will have the opportunity to consider all views about a concrete proposal rather than just an in-principle idea at this stage.
It is also better to refer the terms of the bill at that point, to ensure that all aspects of the proposal will be inquired into and are considered. That is why, as I said, I was
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