Page 2181 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 3 August 2016
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We have opened new schools in growing regions and we have upgraded existing facilities such as the Woden campus of the Canberra College and the Belconnen High School. We have rolled out an upgraded wi-fi network in all of our public schools so that our kids are the best connected in the country.
Over the past few months we have commenced construction of the public north side teaching hospital at the University of Canberra. We have commenced a major renovation of the city’s law courts and we have commenced construction on the first stage of the light rail network, all conducted through best practice procurement processes. We have reduced elective surgery wait lists, and last month I announced the expansion of nurse-led walk-in centres to Gungahlin and Weston Creek after their successful establishment in Belconnen and Tuggeranong.
Our city’s economy continues to perform strongly: we have the lowest unemployment rate in the nation at 3.6 per cent; retail trade grew by 4.7 per cent in the year to May 2016, well above the national average of 3.4 per cent; building approvals increased by 8.2 per cent in May and increased 35 per cent in the year to May; service exports have increased by 65 per cent since 2010, which is well above the national average of 30 per cent growth in that same period; and growth in economic activity as measured by state final demand in the ACT was the highest in the nation in the March quarter.
Madam Speaker, these are the sorts of tangible, practical improvements the government is making in the lives of Canberrans; actions that are supported by a strong and coherent accountability and integrity framework. I therefore commend my amendment to the Assembly today.
MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo) (10.26): Following on from yesterday’s debate we have another opportunity this morning to discuss the accountability mechanisms in the ACT and how we give the community the greatest possible confidence in the government and the public services of the territory, because it is a broad and encompassing domain that we are discussing. It is an interesting debate to be having, and it is worth reflecting on the mechanisms we have and then the options that are on the table before us.
Of course, the Assembly have a number of mechanisms in place. We have the Ethics and Integrity Adviser to advise members of the Assembly on ethical issues relating to conflicts of interest and entitlements in their roles as MLAs. That is a role that is really a proactive one—an opportunity for members to seek advice at the beginning of a story or at least in a proactive way ideally to avoid coming into a conflict of interest situation.
We of course have the independent arbiter to rule on the release of government documents, and that came about after a number of disputes about the release of documents. We now have a mechanism to resolve those issues. We have the lobbyist registering code of conduct which has been in place since the beginning of 2015. It is there to aid transparency by ensuring that MLAs understand the interests of who is lobbying them. This also prevents MLAs, Assembly political staff and public servants from lobbying on areas related to their previous work in a certain period after they have left.
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