Page 2394 - Week 11 - Thursday, 2 November 1989
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arrangements, and I feel that we must ensure that that view that the Minister adopts is genuine and not in any way hypocritical. To my knowledge, the Chief Minister does have a consultant full-time on the fifth floor. That was the consultant who did not work on the day of the strike recently. Clearly, there is a close and continuing relationship between the Government and that consultant.
We do not know whether that consultant is on the ACT register of consultants. We do not know whether the amendment that we propose to put into this Act will exclude the further employment of that consultant. But, clearly, it is incumbent upon the Chief Minister to set the example that she wishes Mr Stevenson to set, and we need to have across-the-board agreement that the employment of consultants by anyone in this Assembly is genuine and that it is not an arrangement that takes the place of what would otherwise be a contract of service; in other words, an employment arrangement.
This Assembly must be seen to be above reproach in its employment of and payment to consultants. I am sure that all members of the opposition agree with that. I expect it will be a matter of weeks before we can effect the necessary changes to this legislation and bring back the balance we were being deprived of originally.
MR DUBY (12.06): As other members of this Assembly have noted, this Bill has been a long time coming because of the problems involved with this very vexed issue of consultancies. My party will support the amendment proposed by the Chief Minister, removing the consultancy provision from the Bill.
I think the points made by Mr Collaery are quite valid - that none of us can see a problem with a genuine, above-board and open use of genuine consultancies. I look forward to seeing the proposed amendments to this Bill that he will be arranging, because I feel that if these had been presented from day one they probably would have solved the problem there and then.
I note with concern his mention of a letter from the legislative counsel and I do not know whether this is the right place or time to comment on such a matter. I, too, share his concern that clear instructions from members of the Assembly are not being followed by, presumably, the area that has been set up to help us in the arrangement of draft legislation and amendments. Clearly, that is something that needs to be looked at.
Of course, the conclusion drawn by Mr Collaery, that that therefore demonstrates the need for our members to be able to hire consultants to draft legislation for us, seems to me to be foolish because it clearly indicates then that all one is doing is wasting valuable staff resource money on matters which should be quite properly performed by the public servants of this Government.
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