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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1995 Week 11 Hansard (12 December) . . Page.. 2868 ..

MR MOORE (continuing):

I having spoken to those members of Mrs Carnell's department, she, in turn, wrote to me and said, "Well, there is a method we can use to make these things available should the necessity arise". I will seek to table her letter in a minute, Mr Speaker. The Chief Minister wrote:

In balancing these several interests I have directed that the following procedures be adopted in the ACT Public Service and that they be included in the Executive Handbook, which will be published once the result of the Assembly's deliberations on the Bill is known. These procedures are:

. the Commissioner for Public Administration will keep copies of all current executive contracts;

. if an Assembly Member requests access to a contract, in whole or in part, the Commissioner will decide whether it would be unreasonable to withhold access to the contract, having regard to

- the reasons given for seeking access

- the wishes of the executive to whom the contract relates

- any other relevant policy consideration;

. if the Member is not satisfied by the Commissioner's decision, the Commissioner will, at the request of the Member, treat the request as a formal request under the Freedom of Information Act ... ;

- any applicable fees under that Act will be waived and the request expedited, as the full period usually required to locate and consider documents will not be needed in that instance;

. if the Member is not satisfied with the formal decision under the FOI Act, the usual appeal rights to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal will be available.

Of course, members also have the ability to come into the Assembly and effectively alter the legislation. Mr Speaker, I seek leave to table that letter.

Leave granted.

MR MOORE: Thank you, members. Mr Speaker, although this has been a difficult decision, I am inclined, at this stage, to go with the Government, while keeping that letter as part of the reassurance that there will be openness in the system. I must say that I do so with a great deal of reservation. It may well be, Mr Speaker, that this matter needs to be revisited if the amendment is lost. It may even be, Mr Speaker, as my decision is so finely balanced, that the arguments put in the Assembly today make me change my mind. At this point I am inclined to go with the arguments put by the Chief Minister.

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