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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 14 Hansard (11 December) . . Page.. 4906 ..

MRS CARNELL (continuing):

I do not think this review should have come as a surprise to anybody. Mr Berry is indicating that it is some sort of a stunt. Mr Speaker, as you would know, that simply is not the case at all. Mr Speaker, you would be aware that over the last two years the Government has undertaken extensive consultation about the governance of Canberra. Mr Osborne has made comments on this; other members of the Assembly have made comments as well. Mr Speaker, we have had two major vehicles for consultation on this issue. One was the "Governing Canberra" report, which was released for community consultation in February 1996, and the other was the National Capital Futures Conference.

Mr Berry: Which was just another wasteful stunt.

MRS CARNELL: Mr Berry just said that the National Capital Futures Conference was a stunt. I am just stunned. I just cannot believe that those opposite believe that an opportunity for the community to have direct input into a conference of this nature is somehow a stunt. The people who spoke at the National Capital Futures Conference and who have been part of this whole process, the vast percentage of them certainly not aligned to the Liberal Party, do not share Mr Berry's view that this is a stunt.

Mr Speaker, we believe that there are better ways to run this Assembly, but we also believe that there needs to be an independent look at governance in the ACT. Professor Pettit, I can promise you, is not somebody aligned to the Liberal Party. He is certainly somebody who is not aligned to government at all. We chose him for that reason. We did not want it to be seen to be a stunt or something that was set up just to come up with a particular outcome. Mr Speaker, for Mr Berry to suggest that somebody like Professor Pettit would be involved in a political stunt for the Liberal Party is simply unacceptable. Those opposite seem to believe - and I cannot believe that they believe this - that the people of Canberra are happy with the way this Assembly works all the time.

Mr Berry: They are not happy with the Government.

MRS CARNELL: Mr Berry is saying that if there was a different government they would be absolutely happy with the way the Assembly works. Mr Speaker, there is no doubt that the Assembly has grown up, has matured and works better every year, but that does not mean there are not ways to improve even further; that there are not ways to ensure that every member of the Assembly has more input into government; that the community generally has more input. I believe that this is a critical review. I believe that this is at the appropriate time. The Assembly runs into its tenth year next year. It would seem to me that its tenth year, just before the turn of the century, is a good time to have a look at the way we are operating.

All members did have an opportunity to have an input into the terms of reference. I believe that those opposite missed an opportunity to change the terms of reference if they did not like them, but that is their deal. I think that it is important for us as an Assembly to send a message to the next Assembly that we would like them to give serious consideration to whatever this report decides. That does not mean that they have to support it. What it does mean is that if we are going to spend some dollars, and certainly a lot of time, looking at this very important area a new Assembly really should look

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