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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 3 Hansard (26 May) . . Page.. 542 ..

MS CARNELL (continuing):

(6) the foregoing provisions of this resolution have effect notwithstanding anything contained in the standing orders.

The motion seeks to establish a Select Committee on Estimates to examine the 1998-99 budget estimates and the 1997-98 annual and financial reports. I propose that the committee be composed of one member to be nominated by the Government, two members to be nominated by the Opposition and two members to be nominated by either the Independent members or the ACT Greens, to be notified in writing to the Speaker by 10.00 am on Thursday, 28 May 1998.

I also propose that the committee report by 25 August 1998 in respect of the Appropriation Bill and by 24 November 1998 in respect of the annual and financial reports for the 1997-98 financial year. This reporting framework will allow the committee approximately eight weeks to consider the budget and approximately eight weeks to consider the annual and financial reports for the 1997-98 financial year. The committee is authorised to release copies of its report, pursuant to embargo conditions and to persons to be determined by the committee, prior to the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker authorising its printing, publication and circulation. Mr Speaker, I commend the motion to the Assembly.

MR BERRY (11.39): Labor will be agreeing to this proposition to establish the Estimates Committee, as proposed by the Government. I trust that it will be a repeat of successful estimates committee processes which have occurred in this Assembly since it first took off in 1989.

Question resolved in the affirmative.

Debate resumed from 30 April 1998, on motion by Mr Stefaniak:

That this Bill be agreed to in principle.

MR CORBELL (11.40): Mr Speaker, the Opposition will be supporting this Bill because it is a Bill that deals purely with mechanical issues associated with operations of the Schools Authority's consultative mechanisms, which have not been in place for many years; indeed, not since self-government, I understand. Mr Speaker, I understand that this Bill is in response to issues raised by Mr Moore in the last Assembly, when he alerted the Government to the fact that the Schools Authority Advisory Committee had not been operating since self-government in 1989 and that the Government was potentially in breach of the legislation by not ensuring that such a body was in existence. Mr Speaker, this is not to say that no consultative mechanisms have been in place. Indeed, since self-government day, there have been a number of consultative mechanisms put in place by successive governments to ensure that there is a clear dialogue between people who use the school system - teachers, parents, a range of individuals - and the Education Department. So, Mr Speaker, in principle, the Opposition has no concerns with this Bill. It clearly is a Bill designed to deal with some administrative arrangements that have, effectively, become redundant.

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