Page 274 - Week 01 - Thursday, 14 February 1991
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
they are significant. A royal commission is a powerful tool for impartial inquisitorial and investigatory inquiry. In my view it goes beyond what would be expected in an inquiry.
For example, to appoint a royal commission to investigate the Casuarina weir situation would be seen to be an excessive response to a particular problem. I forget the title that Mr Connolly was referring to, but to change the title to something less than a royal commission would also generate the expectation in some people's minds that some less significant response had been generated by the Government to a particular matter into which an inquiry was sought.
As I said before, if Mr Connolly strongly feels that the ACT should abandon this anachronism, he ought to put a very compelling case as to why this should happen in this jurisdiction when it has not happened elsewhere in this country and also explain why governments, even of his own persuasion, continue to use that mechanism. Perhaps it is because it is appropriate. In fact I think that, to be up to date, a royal commission - - -
Mr Jensen: They are a bit busy at the moment, particularly in the Labor States.
MR HUMPHRIES: Yes, they are very busy at the moment. The South Australian Government, so much regarded by Mr Connolly, has in the last few days, as I recall, even appointed a royal commission - not a board of inquiry, not an inquiry or an investigation - into the activities of the State Bank of South Australia. Obviously, such an anachronism has some friends in this country.
The Inquiries Bill is important in its own right. It replaces the Enquiry Act which is over 50 years old. Although I have not seen the Enquiry Act of 1938, I can guarantee that it is significantly out of date and that an adequate and updated piece of legislation is required to support official inquiries in the ACT. Obviously, as Mr Connolly pointed out, this Inquiries Bill has many elements in common with the Royal Commissions Bill; but, obviously, the intention of this Bill is to provide for an inquiry into a matter of general importance at a lesser level as opposed to the Royal Commissions Bill.
It is intended that the Executive - the Cabinet - would appoint a board of inquiry on an ad hoc basis when the need arose for the Government to inform itself or, more generally, to inform the community in such things as the making of policy. That is an entirely appropriate kind of function, but not one which I would think is quite so much in the area of a royal commission. A board of inquiry could assist in the formation of policy or aid the decision-making processes essential to government. It can comprise either part-time or full-time members. That introduces flexibility in the conduct of such an inquiry.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .