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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1995 Week 7 Hansard (19 October) . . Page.. 1840 ..

MS FOLLETT (continuing):

sensible that a change of this magnitude ought to be examined by the Public Accounts Committee. The responsibility for examining the Public Sector Management Act was given to the Public Accounts Committee by this Assembly. In giving the committee that responsibility, the Assembly was surely expressing its view that changes of this magnitude should rightly be considered by the committee.

Mr Speaker, I think that the Bill the Government has introduced is really worthy of some scrutiny. It is only fair that the public, and the people concerned, have some time in which to make an examination of what the Government proposes. After all, approximately 150 people are directly affected by this change. I do not intend to go into the merits of the Bill. That is a subject for another time. But there are about 150 members of the SES who will be directly affected - probably offended as well - by this Bill. Mr Speaker, it is my view that those 150 senior officers of the ACT Government Service have served successive governments very well. I speak from my own experience in government. I know that they served equally well under Mr Kaine. Most of them have been serving the ACT government, of whatever persuasion, and the ACT community since the beginnings of self-government. In that time, of course, they have performed some very major tasks on behalf of the ACT community. They have had to oversight, for instance, the taking on of further responsibilities as the Territory moved to fuller self-government. Things like the courts, the police and so on were taken on successively after self-government.

They have overseen the separation of the public service itself from the Commonwealth. I ask members to bear in mind that I gave a commitment that upon separation from the Commonwealth Public Service there would be no diminution in the terms and conditions of service of the officers who were making the transfer. That was a commitment that I took very seriously in making that major change. Mr Speaker, these Senior Executive Service officers have overseen any number of major pieces of legislation - things like the ACT Electoral Act, the planning legislation and so on. These have all been huge tasks. As far as I am concerned, they have been carried out very well. So a change to these 150 people's terms and conditions of employment, in my view, is worthy of some examination, some scrutiny.

I do not want to go to any great lengths in suggesting that the Public Accounts Committee examine the Government's Bill, but I will say that I fully expect that if this motion of mine succeeds the Government will not seek to bring on further debate on their Bill whilst the committee is still inquiring. On that subject, I believe that I have given the committee a reasonably short timetable for making their examination. If it is the will of the Assembly that this legislation go ahead, then I do not believe that the slight delay of only a couple of months will be in any way detrimental to the Government in seeking to pursue their agenda. We have a government that has often mouthed rhetoric about open government, about consultation and so on. Mr Speaker, it seems to me that a two-month period spent examining an item of major change which is within the terms of reference of the Public Accounts Committee is the barest minimum scrutiny that any open government should contemplate. I believe that the motion I have put forward is entirely appropriate and it is the only responsible way to go with what is a very major change to the fundamental basis of the ACT Government Service. I commend the motion to the Assembly.

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