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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 7 Hansard (25 June) . . Page.. 2053 ..

Debate resumed from 18 June 1997, on motion by Mr Moore:

That this Bill be agreed to in principle.

MR HUMPHRIES (Attorney-General) (11.32): The Government is pleased to be able to support this quite significant piece of legislation which is before the house. Some could say that it is before the house much too late. In many ways the capacity of a parliament to be able to expose its workings fully to the community that it serves is a very important indicator of the parliament's maturity and place within the community. Some would say it is inappropriate; some would say perhaps it is appropriate that it has taken eight years from the granting of self-government for us to reach the level of maturity where we are able to let the community, as a whole, hear the workings of this place through the medium of electronic broadcasting.

Mr Speaker, it remains a sad truth that only a very small minority of citizens of the Territory do come to this place to sit in and listen to debates.

Mrs Carnell: That could be a good thing.

MR HUMPHRIES: Perhaps, as the Chief Minister suggests in her comment, it could even be a good thing that they do not, on occasions. That proposition will be put to the test by having this legislation passed today, because this legislation will provide a different medium for those who are interested in the workings of the ACT polity to see how that political process works. We obviously make such decisions and take such steps in the hope that what members of the community see when those workings are exposed pleases them or makes them feel that the parliament that they pay for through their rates and taxes is doing the job that it is entrusted with. Section 24 of the self-government Act enables the Assembly to make laws covering its privileges and immunities and was drafted on the basis that the Assembly would eventually do something of this kind to be able to deal with the privilege that attaches to the broadcasting of proceedings.

I am pleased that the Bill before us takes up the suggestions made in the Government response to the original Bill that was tabled some while ago and that it has come about through a cooperative effort by all members of this Assembly. I trust that when further consideration is given to other issues of the law relating to privileges we will be able to pursue the enactment of those privileges in a similarly cooperative way. I would like to mention that the Government is giving consideration to bringing forward during the next session of the Assembly legislation which deals with the powers and privileges of the Assembly generally. That is a matter which has not been dealt with in any significant way prior to now. Although we have had a regime of sorts to deal with privilege issues, on occasions relying simply on the privileges attaching to the House of Representatives as the default position that this Assembly relies on where there are not statements of the position, it is appropriate that we now move down the path of clarifying and stating those privileges and powers clearly in our own context.

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