Page 2920 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 14 September 1994
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Later in his article he said:
This is a proposal coming from the rich and is designed to suit the interests of the rich.
So, quite clearly, the proposition that the Liberals are putting forward is not something that appeals to all sectors of the community. Mr Deputy Speaker, I would like to say that I very firmly believe that governments do have a responsibility to consult with their communities and it is fundamental to the democratic process. If a government is to be responsive to the needs of the community, then you have to listen to that community, as Mr Humphries completely failed to do when he was in government, and you must listen especially during the decision making process.
The ACT Government, as I am sure members opposite know to their chagrin, already provides many opportunities for individuals to participate in the decision making process. They can do this by commenting on various public discussion papers or by making contact with any member of the Government, any member of the Assembly for that matter, or a Minister. Of course, members must also be aware that our community is also consulted through this Assembly's own committee processes. We have existing ministerial advisory committees and statutory consultation mechanisms and they, of course, are further opportunities for the community to make a contribution.
As another dimension, we have four advisory councils which represent the views of the multicultural community, of young people, of Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders, and of women. Each provides me with advice on issues of special concern to the groups that they represent. They also hold regular public meetings and consult with people on that basis. We, as a government, have created unique consultative processes to help shape our budgets and we have also undertaken extensive consultations on planning issues, such as the Territory Plan. We have conducted householder surveys, and all accessible avenues for the community to provide their views on matters which affect them, I believe, have been taken. This commitment to consultation has, of course, exposed the Government to many new ideas, many new views, and it has made the planning and the delivery of a range of services to the community much more effective.
Mr Deputy Speaker, to further strengthen our consultation processes we have released for community consultation a draft protocol. That was released in July of this year, and Mr Humphries has very childishly drawn attention to it. The protocol will provide for a consistent and systematic approach to decision making. I would like to say that, as far as I am aware, the consultation protocol has been broadly well received. In fact, I have recently had to extend the deadline for comment on that protocol. The document has actually gone into reprint. The protocol will provide us with a framework which will let everybody in government, from Ministers all the way through agencies, know whom they should consult with, how this should happen and when it should happen. It establishes basic principles to guide consultations between ACT government agencies and the community.
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