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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 14 Hansard (9 December) . . Page.. 4760 ..

MR MOORE (continuing):

and councils in Australia. It is by no means perfect. There will be things that we can do to improve it. I hope that each and every one of us will continue to work on those. While this is major in the sense that it has not been done before in Australia, it is minor in the sense that it is a minor evolutionary change. I appreciate the contribution members have made.

Question resolved in the affirmative.

Bill agreed to in principle.

Clauses 1 and 2, by leave, taken together, and agreed to.

Clause 3

MR MOORE (4.30): Mr Speaker, I move:

Page 2, lines 9 and 10, omit "matters being", substitute "interstate agreements".

I should say that I have circulated an explanatory memorandum for my amendments so that members can understand what I am trying to achieve. Amendment No. 1 is simply to clarify the meaning of the provision.

MRS CARNELL (Chief Minister) (4.39): Mr Speaker, the Government has considered Mr Moore's amendments to the Bill and will be supporting them. The amendments ensure the workability of the legislation by putting in some sensible boundaries. While we are keen to keep members informed, there are a lot of intergovernmental relationships and discussions that would be of very little interest to us or them, I can promise. First, I believe it is important to rule out from this legislation communications between officials which do not involve a Minister, given the large amount of dialogue that goes on between officials in developing proposals for ministerial consideration. The amendment to subclause 11(2) will reduce the administrative burden placed on not only departments but also members and committees. I would like to thank Mr Moore and his officers for the cooperative approach that they adopted in discussing these amendments with the Government. I believe that this legislation strikes the right balance between information and workload.

MR WHITECROSS (4.40): Mr Speaker, the Opposition will be supporting Mr Moore's amendments.

Amendment agreed to.

Clause, as amended, agreed to.

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