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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 1 Hansard (18 February) . . Page.. 71 ..

MR WHITECROSS (continuing):

As Mr Moore indicated, the inclusion of the discretion for proper authorities to decline to investigate complaints is an appropriate one. There are, inevitably, limited resources available to the Ombudsman and the Auditor-General to pursue complaints, and they have to have the opportunity to distinguish between vexatious complaints, which are going to consume a lot of their resources with perhaps limited result, and complaints which deserve to be investigated. I am sure that everyone in this place would hope that the power of the Ombudsman or Auditor-General to decline to investigate a complaint would be used sparingly and in circumstances where there was a more appropriate remedy, or where it was genuinely vexatious, rather than simply because of a lack of resources. But we have to acknowledge that, if we want these watchdogs to work, they have to have the capacity to focus on what they regard as serious complaints rather than on ones where they believe that the complaint perhaps lacks substance. Mr Speaker, I think that the amendments improve the Act, particularly in relation to the involvement of the Auditor-General and the inclusion of executive employees within the definition of "public official" for the purposes of the Act.

Mr Moore: Mr Speaker, I raise a point of order under standing order 47, as something about my speech may have been misunderstood. Mr Speaker, I addressed the speech as though the legislation was Mr Humphries's legislation. Indeed, it is the Chief Minister's. The confusion for me, Mr Speaker, was the change from one Deputy Chief Minister to another Deputy Chief Minister to Chief Minister. The legislation says "Chief Minister" on the top. It is very difficult to remember who is who within the Liberal Party.

MRS CARNELL (Chief Minister) (5.14), in reply: Mr Speaker, I am surprised that Mr Moore is confused on this particular issue, as this was a Bill that I actually brought before the Assembly from opposition. It was a Bill that the Liberal Party, in opposition, brought to the Assembly and that finally, after, shall I say, a somewhat turbulent time in getting the Bill passed, was passed by this Assembly. He also might have noticed that we actually have not changed Chief Ministers for a quite long time - not since the election. It was two years ago today.

Mr Speaker, the Public Interest Disclosure Act, for us, is a very key complement to accountability measures generally. Members of the Assembly will be aware that the Financial Management Act that we passed last year was part of that accountability approach. The extension now of the Public Interest Disclosure Act, which I say again was an initiative of the Liberal Party from opposition, is another part of that whole approach.

Effective mechanisms to encourage the reporting of wrongdoing in the public sector and to ensure that any reports are properly investigated and acted upon back up the wider financial and performance auditing mechanisms set in place by our financial reforms. The changes proposed by the Bill reflect the accountability framework within the public sector and contribute to a more robust system that ensures that people who want to report wrongdoings can get support from independent agencies.

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