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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 6 Hansard (23 May) . . Page.. 1707 ..

MR HUMPHRIES (continuing):

A report presumably will come down from time to time. Of course, if a report is being prepared on a particular aspect of these terms of reference, presumably it gives rise to some expectation that members of the Assembly who have some concern to raise will give the monitoring committee the courtesy of bringing down the report before they act. So, we have legislation passed by this Assembly being, in a sense, monitored outside the Assembly by another body.

Mr Moore: You mean like the Auditor-General does on a lot of other things?

MR HUMPHRIES: There are no equivalent circumstances that I can think of.

Ms Tucker: The Federal Government does it. The Western Australian Government does it.

MR HUMPHRIES: Ms Tucker says that the Federal Government does it. I am not aware of those bodies, in the Federal Government's case. I will take your word for it, but in this Assembly it has not been the case.

Mr Moore: The Commissioner for the Environment is another example.

MR HUMPHRIES: The Commissioner for the Environment has an ongoing brief to monitor particular environmental issues that he self-refers, he has a brief to look at matters that people raise with him as a kind of environmental ombudsman, and he produces state of the environment reports. He does not have responsibility for monitoring the operation of the legislation that governs key environmental issues in this Territory. He simply does not. He might be referred that from time to time, but he has not been referred that on this occasion. The Assembly has not delegated its power to monitor legislation to the Commissioner for the Environment. Have you any other examples to cite? I do not think so. I do not think this is particularly well thought through.

Look at another issue on this. Ms McRae is the spokesman for education, is she not? I can see why we might put on the committee representatives of consumer organisations or union organisations, or even business organisations; but why should an academic organisation have a place on the committee, and which one?

Ms Tucker: Broad representation, outside looking in, accountability.

MR HUMPHRIES: No. I refer Ms Tucker to the motion. It says:

Such a forum should include representatives of ... academic organisations.

If Ms Tucker wanted to have an academic on the body because of some expertise in this area, that is fine. But she is not asking for an academic; she is asking for a representative of an academic organisation, and I do not know why an academic organisation should be on this committee. I really do not.

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