Page 2296 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 1 August 2017
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ensuring time-poor Canberrans can have a say on the issues that matter to them. Your say currently receives anywhere between 4,000 and 8,000 unique visitors a month, depending on the engagements available on the website. The government is continuing to work to build this audience, the tools and techniques, along with the visibility of the platform, so that more and more Canberrans know this is a place where they can have their say heard.
I agree with Minister Stephen-Smith that perhaps lack of consultation is not the problem, but we can certainly improve the way that we consult. That is why I think Mrs Kikkert’s mention of an open and consultative democracy is important, because the ACT government is looking at exactly this issue.
On 19 January this year, I had the pleasure of meeting with the Canberra Alliance for Participatory Democracy about ways that we can make our democracy more inclusive, representative and open. Subsequently, I wrote to the Chief Minister suggesting that a proposal that they had raised with me around citizen juries could be an effective way for the ACT government to give people a direct say on big decisions affecting them.
In budget estimates the Chief Minister renewed his commitment to improving engagement in the community, and I commend him for it. There is certainly a great deal of excitement and interest in this place, and across government, about how deliberative democracy could work, and the proposal around citizens juries in particular. I would have to disagree with Ms Le Couteur in regard to the cost of insurance on our vehicles. That is actually an issue that some people in our community, particularly young people and vulnerable people, might have a say on.
It is important to note that these juries are not a “shiny new toy” to be rolled out for every decision. The government has committed to identifying an issue for a pilot project where citizens can shape a complex policy and officials will be able to learn new engagement skills to use in the future.
The government is currently seeking advice from the experts on what best practice engagement might look like in our unique jurisdiction, including how we can utilise deliberative democracy to further involve the community in decision-making. Canberra is home to world-recognised leaders in the field of deliberative democracy, and it is time we made the most of this.
Fundamentally, our government wants to see more Canberrans able to play a role in shaping the city that we all live in. We cannot just rely on the bureaucracy for that purpose. All of us, as elected members of this place, have a duty to be open and accessible to the constituency that elected us. Indeed I made a commitment to CAPaD during the election to promote and support participatory, representative and deliberative methods for policy planning and legislative decisions. I note that Mrs Kikkert did not do that. She chose not to sign that pledge. I know Mr Parton did, and Ms Le Couteur did as well.
Better constituency representation was one of the reasons why we increased the size of the Assembly and, as a government member, it is something that I take very seriously. Since being elected last year, I have placed the utmost importance on going
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