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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 11 Hansard (25 September) . . Page.. 3332 ..

MR MOORE (continuing):

I think this is an important piece of legislation, but it is also important for members to think about how the legislation operates. The legislation is just a background to make sure the consultation occurs. It is still up to an individual member to move that an appointment not be accepted if they think it ought not be, and then for the Assembly as a whole to decide. The consultation process is all about ensuring that that does not happen. It is all about ensuring that people understand the appointments that are being made and the processes that have gone on in making those appointments.

What I have been very pleased about, Mr Speaker, is that it is not just statutory appointments that members are being consulted on. I have on my desk at the moment a letter from Mr Humphries talking about appointments to the Community Law Reform Committee, which does not fall under this Act. He may interject, but the perception I have is that Mr Humphries is saying, "This is a body that advises the Attorney-General. It clearly has a major impact. We always take its reports seriously. All of us have taken the reports of the Community Law Reform Committee seriously. Therefore, it will be best if there is general agreement on the people who are appointed to that body". Mr Speaker, I think that is an important process. Where the appointments are statutory appointments I think it is much more significant that members have the opportunity to see that they are done in an open and consultative way. That is what the legislation does. This is an improvement and that is why I will be supporting it. I appreciate the fact that Ms Follett, at the very least, has accepted the legislation now and is prepared to put up this type of improvement to make it work even better.

MS FOLLETT (10.45), in reply: I thank members for their support for this Bill which I have put up. Mr Speaker, I made it very clear when I introduced the Bill that in government we had opposed the passage of the statutory appointments legislation. The fact that the Assembly did pass that legislation really illustrates that the majority of Assembly members wish to see this kind of administration in relation to appointments. Unlike the current Government, I fully accept that that is the will of the Assembly. It was the will of the Assembly when the last Bill was passed, and as I read the situation it remains the will of the Assembly. I am perfectly prepared to accept that my then Government's first instincts about this legislation were outnumbered. It is a question of acceptance of what the Assembly clearly wants.

Mr Speaker, I would also like to point out to the current Government that they really ought to be expressing some appreciation to other members of the Assembly because of our total absence of politicisation of appointments which they have made. I have in mind when we were in government appointments like those of Mr Aliprandi to the Pharmacy Board and Mr Charles Wright to the Tourism Commission. Those individuals were absolutely vilified by the then Opposition, in public. There was an attempt at character assassination, on the most base political agenda. That has simply not happened since there has been the change of government, Mr Speaker. I would remind members of the Government of their own political attitude towards all appointments that were made when they were in opposition. They were the most base personal attacks. Mr Speaker, Mr Humphries is also quite wrong in asserting that there was never any consultation prior to the passage of the Statutory Appointments Act. That is simply not the case. I fully accept that consultation was not as organised or was not legislated, but there certainly was consultation, at least between me and whoever was the Leader of the Opposition at the time, on a number of significant appointments.

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