Page 2317 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 22 June 1994
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Recommendation 5, which I supported as a member of the select committee, says:
The Committee recommends that, until the matters dealt with at recommendations 2, 3 and 4 are adequately addressed, the passage of the Public Sector Management Bill and the Public Sector Management (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill be deferred (but not beyond the 1994 Spring Sittings of the Legislative Assembly).
Again, as a result of the round table discussions that members had on Monday of this week, this Assembly has now addressed the issues in relation to ACTEW which I mentioned previously, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Legal Aid Commission. There are various amendments which we will address later on this day during the debate.
While I have been listening to other speakers during this debate, Madam Speaker, I have been going fairly carefully through the Government's amendments which have been put forward today. At the moment I am up to page 21 of those Government amendments. So far I have found about half a dozen new amendments based on the results of the round table discussion that we had on Monday which do not cause me any difficulty whatsoever. As for the other amendments that the Government has brought forward today, most members who have been involved in this debate have had since Friday evening to consider them. We also had the opportunity to discuss them at the round table discussion on Monday. Therefore, Madam Speaker, I do not have any problem with going through these amendments in the course of the debate today.
Several speakers have mentioned the outstanding issues which still remain, the Commonwealth's legislation which is yet to be passed and the process that the Industrial Relations Commission is still going through. My understanding is that the concerns of both the Trades and Labour Council and the Public Sector Union have been taken up in the ACT's legislation. The Industrial Relations Commission still has the power to decide issues differently, and the ACT legislation can be amended, if necessary, at a later date. This is because the decisions of the Industrial Relations Commission take precedence over the ACT's legislation anyway. On that basis I believe that the Assembly can proceed to debate this legislation today and can work through the amendments that we have before us.
Mr De Domenico mentioned the Electricity (Amendment) Bill that, interestingly, did not come on for debate during the Assembly sittings last week. I had some discussions with Mr De Domenico last week about delaying the passage of that legislation, if necessary. However, I do note that the Bill did not come on for debate. I also note that last week the Assembly was concentrating its efforts on the report of the Select Committee on the Establishment of an ACT Government Service and the Public Sector Management Bill.
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