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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 9 Hansard (4 September) . . Page.. 2889 ..

MR KAINE (continuing):

The Bill provides for amendment of the Freedom of Information Act, the Ombudsman Act and the Public Interest Disclosure Act. What the Bill does is ensure that the comprehensive national accountability regime established for the national market can work effectively in the ACT. The Bill will in no way reduce ACT citizens' rights under the ACT Government's accountability regime. The Bill does not seek to shield the activities and decisions of NEMMCO and NECA from scrutiny or review.

Amendments to the three Acts will avoid the possibility of an unexpected and anomalous extension of certain parts of the ACT's accountability framework to activities with little to do with the ACT. The National Electricity Market Management Company and the National Electricity Code Administrator - the two companies that have been established to operate the national electricity market - will not be covered by any of the three Acts in question. That is expected. The ACT Government, while it is a member of these companies, does not control them. The companies deal with national, not ACT, matters. They do not take over functions currently undertaken by Territory bodies.

We have been advised, however, that there is a possibility that a small number of committees and panels set up under the National Electricity Code - in relation to matters such as system reliability, code change and dispute resolution - are covered by the Acts referred to above. This is despite the fact that the companies which set up the committees and panels and which control them are not covered. It would be an odd outcome if, say, documents relating to system reliability and reserve capacity in South Australia could be sought under the ACT FOI legislation. It would not be an acceptable outcome to the other jurisdictions. I submit that, if the situation were reversed, it would not be acceptable to us. The Bill also provides that, if a body covered by the Freedom of Information Act - here we have in mind ACTEW Corporation - should act as an agent of NEMMCO and NECA, then these functions would be excluded from the FOI Act.

Two points should be made about this provision. The first is that it is not intended at this stage that ACTEW would be an agent of NEMMCO or NECA. The provision is covered in this Bill for the sake of completeness and to cover any future eventuality. The second is that ACTEW Corporation already has a general exemption in relation to commercially sensitive information, and, if ACTEW were an agent of NEMMCO or NECA, this would be a commercial arrangement. The provision is in this Bill simply to put the matter beyond any doubt. This is important because other jurisdictions have legislated to ensure that any other bodies which will be operating as agents of the companies from day one of the market are excluded from their States' freedom of information regimes. Similar amendments are proposed in relation to the Ombudsman Act. It would be inappropriate for the Territory's accountability framework to cover national issues. There would also be unacceptable overlap with the arrangements in the National Electricity Law and code for review of decisions.

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