Page 3330 - Week 08 - Thursday, 23 August 2012
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Executive and the relevant committee of the Legislative Assembly shall ensure that details of proposed appointments remain confidential until the appointment is made;
(2) to promote accountability and transparency, the relevant standing committees that consider statutory appointments shall, on a six monthly basis (that is, for the periods 1 January to 30 June and from 1 July to 31 December), make a statement to the Assembly in accordance with standing order 246A and present a schedule listing appointments considered during the relevant period; and
(3) the list shall include the statutory appointment considered, the date the request for consultation was received and the date the committee’s feedback was provided.
This motion is the culmination of quite a bit of work already done in the Assembly. It arises from a Select Committee on Privileges matter that arose last year. I do not intend to re-prosecute that matter this morning at all but wish simply to note that there was some discussion about how statutory appointments should take place and issues of confidentiality and process around that.
This proposed continuing resolution seeks to codify a practice that was convention. This has been considered by the committee chairs grouping who had quite some discussion about this. It has also been flagged with the Chief Minister. My understanding is that there is general agreement. This is a good codification of the understanding. It makes it very clear what the processes should be, settles the expectations very clearly and, hopefully, will ensure that as the Assembly goes forward there is no uncertainty, no misunderstanding, and that it will provide absolute clarity in the future. I commend the motion to the Assembly.
MS GALLAGHER (Molonglo—Chief Minister, Minister for Health and Minister for Territory and Municipal Services) (10.05): The government is pleased to support the motion that has been moved by Mr Speaker today. We appreciate the consultative and collaborative method in which the motion has been progressed by the Speaker and believe the proposed approach demonstrates a solid understanding of the important role committees play in the statutory appointment process.
Madam Assistant Speaker, I also support the tabling of a schedule of statutory appointments considered by the Assembly committees, keeping in mind that the proposed schedule would not include details of the committee’s commentary on individual appointees. I believe publication of commentary on individuals after the appointment process has been completed risks undermining the role of the appointed statutory officials.
More widely, this risks undermining a selection process and may discourage prospective applicants from participating in the process. I believe the motion moved by Mr Speaker today strikes the correct balance between the open and transparent process while maintaining the confidentiality of appointees, and on that basis the government will be supporting the motion.
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