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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 11 Hansard (28 November) . . Page.. 3305 ..

MR SMYTH (Minister for Urban Services): Mr Speaker, the Chief Minister has had to go to Sydney for a ministerial council meeting, so on his behalf I present the following paper:

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Leave granted.

MR SMYTH: On behalf of the Chief Minister, I am pleased to table today the Administrative Arrangement Orders for this government, together with the new ministerial arrangements. The revised administrative arrangements set important new directions in key areas, including reforms to purchasing and project management areas of government, identified in the recent Auditor-General's report.

Mr Speaker, when the Chief Minister announced the formation of his Liberal government's new ministry, he indicated that his government will keep a strong focus on strengthening Canberra's social capital. To reflect on this, he has created a new ministry and has taken on the role of the territory's first Minister for Community Affairs. This is to ensure a continuing debate on the best means of delivering important community services. The priority is to promote further social debate about how we can best return the financial gains made by this government to the Canberra community. Economic self-sufficiency is not a goal in itself. Mr Humphries' government is strongly committed to making Canberra a better place to live, including by improving community networks, supporting society's most vulnerable and providing a real sense of social and economic security.

To preserve the level of government stability that the community and business sector has come to expect, only limited adjustments have been made to portfolio area responsibilities. Given the increased responsibilities within the Chief Minister's portfolio, the business, tourism and arts functions will come within the ministerial responsibility of the Minister for Business, Tourism and the Arts. Responsibility for community safety and consumer affairs will be with the Minister Assisting the Attorney-General.

Other key shifts in responsibility include the consolidation of housing responsibilities with community care functions in the expanded portfolio of Health, Housing and Community Care; the inclusion of key purchasing and procurement functions in the Department of Treasury and Infrastructure; and the transfer of infrastructure and asset management and the land release program responsibilities to me, the Minister for Urban Services, to complement the territory planning functions.

These new arrangements reflect a further streamlining of the approach we as a government have taken to efficient and effective government in the ACT.

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