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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 5 Hansard (26 August) . . Page.. 1373 ..

MR MOORE (continuing):

Mr Speaker, today I present for the information of members and the community an outline of my independent Assembly business over the next 18 months. This program lists almost 20 issues where I will dedicate my efforts. All fall within the range of independent issues I have previously specified to my ministerial colleagues. Some of these measures may seem straightforward; others may be highly controversial. Some of these measures are simple; some are very complex. Some of these measures will involve very small Bills; some are large projects. Some of these measures will be accepted by the Assembly; some will be rejected.

Let me give a brief outline of the contents of this program. Included are measures related to our system of government and in particular to openness to the public by the parliament. I touch upon education issues, business regulation issues and, dare I say it, the planning system. I will have material on individual rights and justice. In particular, my intentions for the spring session of this year include amendments to the Subordinate Laws Act to correct what I believe are limits on the Assembly's powers of oversight over some ministerial instruments. In addition, I will move to make the very important directions which our Attorney-General can give to the Director of Public Prosecutions come under the review of the Assembly.

I am waiting with interest for the response of Mr Osborne's select committee to the recent Pettit report. Subject to any directions the committee's work may take us in, I aim to move two amendments to the Electoral Act. I aim to raise once more the case for this Assembly to have a four-year term, and I intend to advance for debate a simple, logical system for the size of the Assembly to be linked directly to growth in Canberra's population. However, Mr Speaker, I may modify those views, depending on the outcome of the committee's deliberations.

I also aim to deal with two matters of urban affairs. The Litter (Amendment) Bill has already been presented to this Assembly, and I also aim to present legislation to deal with the controversial practice of cleaning car windows at major intersections. These two perhaps minor issues were amongst the most frequently raised by constituents during the recent election campaign, and I have accordingly put them to the front of my program. For 1999, I have listed further projects, and I will revise those forward projections into a final program at the beginning of each half-year.

It is my expectation that by presenting this program I will assist members, the public and public servants, particularly those in the Parliamentary Counsel's Office, to know well in advance what business I aim to bring forward. I am aware, as all members are aware, that the professional drafting resources available to this Assembly are limited. The work which we undertake is constantly challenging those limits. It may be that my program will turn out to be too ambitious in regard to its timing. It will of course need to be fitted alongside the competing priorities of the Government and other private members.

Mr Speaker, I cannot give an absolute guarantee that I will not bring forward any additional materials, but members and others are entitled to expect that I will strive to keep as closely as possible to this program. Of course, other members may have been contemplating proposals similar to those I am bringing forward today. May I stress that I do not own these proposals, nor do I feel any need to claim sole credit for them.

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