Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 8 Hansard (27 August) . . Page.. 2567 ..

MRS CARNELL (continuing):

to quote one section from that report, particularly taking into account Mr Osborne's comments earlier. It is with regard to committees - which I think we have all stated from time to time, in the past anyway, have been some of the best working parts of this whole Assembly. There are some fairly startling exceptions to that rule; but, for all of that, I will quote just a small amount of the report under the "committee" heading:

... a small number of Assembly Committees, matching Ministries -

Mr Osborne, listen -

but not usually chaired by Ministers, should result in a streamlining of the Assembly's decision processes. These Assembly Committees would consider new policy proposals, business and strategic plans, performance reports (including budgets) and legislative proposals from the agencies within the Minister's portfolio. Their function would be advisory, and their role to inform the Executive's decision-making. Their focus would be more on outcomes than on process. Meetings would be regularly scheduled (time and place) and open to the public. An opportunity for members of the public to place questions on notice and/or to make presentations on particular issues should form a part of the Committees' agenda. The Committee should also seek community input when it considers this is necessary. If this process is managed effectively, the need for select committees and standing committee inquiries -

as exist currently -

should be considerably reduced.

That is just one paragraph from Governing Canberra, very much in line with what has already been said. Mr Speaker, in its current form, such a concept may not be ideal or particularly practical; but it is the sort of idea that could potentially, given a whole revamp of the way we operate here, significantly improve the workings of the Assembly.

This motion by the Greens today in its current form is a narrow view that will not, on its own, do anything to achieve the sort of style of government - a more city council style - that this side of the chamber supports. However, it may be a start, and we would like to work with Ms Tucker and the crossbenchers to see whether we can advance the ideas to a stage where we could come back to the Assembly and seriously debate ways of improving our system of government. I have to say that those discussions may or may not include getting rid of a traditional Opposition and, by implication, the Leader of the Opposition's position. So, I guess that I could say that the ball is back in Ms Tucker's, Mr Moore's and Mr Osborne's court. If you are serious about doing something more than just reigniting the old debate about salary allocations and grand titles, then c'est la vie. If you are interested in making a difference, we would certainly welcome that.

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .