Page 3784 - Week 12 - Thursday, 24 October 2013
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(b) not employ a family member as defined in that Act;
(c) direct their personal staff to be mindful of the Member’s commitment to this Code of Conduct, and to assist the Member to comply with this Code of Conduct; and
(d) direct their personal staff to comply with any code of conduct applicable to those staff from time to time.
(15) In all their dealings with staff of the Assembly and members of the ACT Public Service:
(a) extend professional courtesy and respect; and
(b) recognise the unique position of impartiality and the obligations of Public Service officials.
(16) Only make a complaint about the compliance of another Member with this Code of Conduct where they believe there are reasonable grounds to suspect non-compliance and not make any such complaint that is frivolous or vexatious or only for political advantage.
(17) Cooperate fully with any official inquiry that may be commenced in connection with their compliance with this Code of Conduct, or that of another Member.
The amendment I have moved is minor. We have worked with other members in this place, including Mr Rattenbury and Mr Hanson, to reach agreement on a way forward with the code. With respect to the major part of the amendment, we have changed the word “will” to “should”, which reflects the original advice from Stephen Skehill when he was doing the review into the code of conduct and the recommendation for a commissioner for standards.
It also omits some clauses which were vague in terms of how they were presented, and potentially could have provided challenges around interpretation. Those went to issues like members’ conduct as members of political organisations, and what that meant. When you read the Stephen Skehill advice, he goes to some length to explain that the draft code that he has designed or proposed should only cover individuals’ conduct as members, and not as members of a community or, indeed, members of a political organisation. However, there were a couple of clauses where that was suitably vague. Certainly, from my party room, members are happier with those clauses not being in the code.
Overall, I think this is very positive for the ACT Assembly. It is much better dealing with issues of a code of conduct and standards when there is not a particular issue on the table that is being argued about, in the calm of perhaps good behaviour, so that we are able to look rationally at the changes to this code—and, subsequently, at the establishment of a commissioner for standards in the calm nature of the world in which we are operating at the moment.
Having moved the amendment, I hope I have support for it. I look forward to seeing the code updated and providing that guidance to members about the expectations from the community regarding the performance of their role as members of the ACT Legislative Assembly.
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