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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 10 Hansard (26 November) . . Page.. 3054 ..
MR HIRD (continuing):
as chairman. That is a gross discourtesy. I heard the chairman refer to some information he received from OFM as early as May of this year. You would have thought that under standing order 246A, which I will come to very shortly, he would have shown the courtesy of informing another committee which has an interest in this matter.
On the surface, the proposed inquiry cuts right across the traditional role of my committee, which for many years has scrutinised and monitored the Territory's public works and made many recommendations to improve the process, nearly all of which have been adopted by governments of all persuasions. The Urban Services Committee has built up a body of expertise in the area of public works and it is one of the hardest working committees within this parliament. You have only to look at the number of reports that it has brought down and the time that it takes. Mr Corbell would bear that out as a member of the committee.
It is a shame that Mr Quinlan does not talk to his colleague Mr Corbell. Or is it because his mate, Mr Berry, is trying to undermine the Chief Minister's endeavours to set up standing committees in line with the respective portfolios? He is setting a dangerous precedent in that that will allow any committee to traverse the work of any of the other committees. I warn the chairmen or chairpersons of other committees that this is a very dangerous precedent. I have not seen it established in the Territory prior to self-government or since self-government. Without doubt, it is the rudest act of a committee, through its chairman, to encroach upon the terms of reference of another committee.
The Urban Services Committee is, as I said, a body of expertise. We know the key players, we know the history, and we have a rapport with the department because we are aligned with the relevant department. Members believe that they have a responsibility under the resolution of the Assembly which set up the present committee structure. As chairman of the Urban Services Committee, I was not consulted at all about the proposed inquiry by the Chief Minister's Portfolio Committee. That is a gross discourtesy, to say the least.
In passing, I note Mr Quinlan's statement was made pursuant to standing order 246A. I will give him some education on standing orders. I note that Mr Corbell is learning. I suggest that Mr Quinlan could do better than he can with a calculator when he is trying to add up figures. He purports to be an accountant, but that is another question. Let us look at standing order 246A. It commences, "If a committee resolves that a statement should be made to the Assembly". I understand from what you said that you have resolved to do so, that there has been a minute made of this resolution by your committee. In other words, your committee has resolved to undertake this inquiry, from your statement earlier. If that is so, would you please present it to the chamber, table it.
The next thing I would like to draw your attention to is that the statement should be about "a matter within the committee's terms of reference". We will talk about the committee's terms of reference in a moment. The standing order requires a statement to be agreed to by committee members. If you have not done it, if you - - -
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