Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 6 Hansard (25 May) . . Page.. 1851 ..

MR BERRY (continuing):

The commissioner holds the position on conditions not provided by this Act or another Territory law that are decided by the Executive.

Mr Speaker, that is completely unnecessary because it is provided for in other acts. When the minister comes in here spruiking about the frailties of other legislation, I wish he would take a look at the legislative background to what he is saying. Subsection 10(1) of the Remuneration Tribunal Act deals with inquiries in relation to the holders of certain offices. The list goes from the Chief Justice down to the Community Advocate. Guess what? Paragraph (w), the all-embracing provision, refers to:

That provision sets out to cover for the Chief Minister if he or she fails in his or her duty. The provision in this bill is unnecessary because, if the position were to be established by law, the Chief Minister would be obliged to deal with it, as would the Remuneration Tribunal. Proposed section 25F, relating to the ending of the commissioner's appointment, is dealt with in sections 25D and 25E of the act passed by this place. Suspension and removal of the commissioner are dealt with in section 25F.

Moving to the establishment of the corporation sole, the government argues that its provision is necessary and that it has proof for its necessity in the way that it operates in other arms of government. Those arms of government are the Housing Assistance Act, which established the Commissioner for Housing, the Public Trustee Act, which established the Public Trustee, and the Registrar-General Act, which established the Registrar General-all arms of government which provide a commissioner as a corporation sole.

What does the Occupational Health and Safety Amendment Bill that the government has provided tell us? It tells us that the Occupational Health and Safety Commissioner is a corporation sole under the name of the Occupational Health and Safety Commissioner for the Australian Capital Territory and that the corporation is a body corporate, has a seal and may sue and be sued in its corporate name. The important one to remember is that it may sue and be sued in its corporate name.

The bill goes on to say that the corporation sole may enter into contracts and-here's a doozey-acquire, hold, dispose of, and deal with property. Why would an Occupational Health and Safety Commissioner have to acquire, hold, dispose of, and deal with property? It beats me. I can understand why the Commissioner for Housing would. It makes sense for the Commissioner for Housing to acquire, hold, dispose of, and deal with property. It may make sense for the Registrar-General because the government buys, holds and disposes of property from time to time. It makes some sense for the Public Trustee to have these sorts of provisions. But I cannot see why it should be a provision that applies to the commissioner.

The bill goes on to talk about the commissioner's functions. Guess what? They are covered by the act already provided by this place. Ministerial directions are covered by the act which has been passed by this place. The bill provides that the commissioner's

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .