Page 2123 - Week 10 - Thursday, 26 October 1989
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Page 6, line 36, add at the end the following subclauses:
"(2) The report in respect of a financial year shall be furnished to the Minister within 3 months after the end of that year.
(3) The Minister shall present a copy of each report to the Legislative Assembly within 6 sitting days of the Assembly after the day on which the Minister received the report.".
In relation to these annual reporting conditions, the committee was pleased to see a provision at clause 12 in the Bill for an annual report to be presented to the Assembly. However, the committee was somewhat concerned at the open-endedness of clause 12. The committee believed that all statutory bodies, authorities, executive departments and non-statutory bodies of the Territory should be required either by statute or executive direction to report to this Assembly on an annual basis. To this end the committee was of the opinion that all bodies established under legislation should have quite specific reporting requirements.
The committee could see no reason why bodies with reporting requirements could not furnish their relevant Ministers with an annual report within three months of the end of each financial year, and the committee was also of the opinion that the Ministers should be able to table those reports within six sitting days of receiving them.
Accordingly, the committee recommended that those bodies with statutory annual reporting responsibilities should furnish those reports within three months of the end of the financial year to which they related and that Ministers should table those reports within six sitting days of their receipt. Also, the committee recommended that the Executive should give consideration to requiring executive departments and non-statutory authorities in the Territory also to furnish reports within three months of the end of the financial year to which they relate and for Ministers to table those within six sitting days as well. Accordingly, in the schedule attached to the report we have suggested that an amendment be made to clause 12, which I have read out, to give effect to that recommendation.
MR WHALAN (Minister for Industry, Employment and Education) (11.56): Mr Speaker, we are opposing this particular amendment. The section requires the Minister to present a report to the Assembly during each financial year. The concern is that this adds two qualifications to that: firstly, it requires a report to be submitted within three months of the end of the year, and, secondly, it further requires that the report be presented to the Assembly within six sitting days after the day on which the Minister receives the report.
What I would submit, Mr Speaker, is that in relation to these sorts of procedures, and particularly in relation to
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