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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 6 Hansard (25 May) . . Page.. 1848 ..
Motion (by Mr Humphries ) agreed to, with the concurrence of an absolute majority:
That so much of the standing and temporary orders be suspended as would prevent order of the day No 33, private members business, relating to the Occupational Health and Safety (Amendment) Bill 2000 being called on immediately after the resolution of any question relating to the conclusion of consideration of order of the day No 1, executive business, relating to the Occupational Health and Safety Amendment Bill 2000 (No 2).
Debate resumed from 23 May 2000, on motion by Mr Smyth:
That this bill be agreed to in principle.
MR SPEAKER: Is it the wish of the Assembly to debate this order of the day concurrently with the Occupational Health and Safety (Amendment) Bill 2000? There being no objection, that course will be followed. I remind members that in debating order of the day No 1 they may also address their remarks to private members business order of the day No 33.
MR BERRY (5.51): Mr Speaker, on 9 May, I received a letter from Mr Smyth in relation to this matter, together with a press release entitled "Minister urges Assembly to support Government's legislation to give the OH&S Commissioner true independence". Attached thereto was a piece of legislation which seemed at first to be a comprehensive range of new provisions which ought to be included in the act because the minister claimed it was in some way flawed.
Subsequent to that, the minister offered a briefing in relation to the matter, and I thank him for that and I thank the officials who came to see me on it. Prior to that, officials had come to see me in relation to progress on the implementation of the bill which provided for an independent statutory officer as Occupational Health and Safety Commissioner for the ACT, and advised me that there were some difficulties with the employment provisions; at least they claimed that there were.
I introduced a motion into this Assembly to repair the matter and I recall informing the Assembly at that time that it was basically a provision which was lifted from the Auditor-General Act to provide for the same employment provisions as has the Auditor-General. Mr Speaker, I had decided on the choice that I was going to make in relation to this matter. You had to have either an arm of government dealing with this matter or an authority that had its origins in scrutiny.
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