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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2002 Week 14 Hansard (10 December) . . Page.. 4170 ..

Clause 9, as amended, agreed to.

Clause 10 agreed to.

Clause 11.

MR CORBELL (Minister for Education, Youth and Family Services, Minister for Planning and Minister for Industrial Relations) (9.05): I move amendment No 7 circulated in my name [see schedule 6 at page 4192].

Mr Speaker, this amendment amends clause 11 to add the requirement to present to the Legislative Assembly, within six sitting days, a copy of a direction given by the minister to the planning and land authorities.

The purpose of the amendment is to provide that, if it is not possible to present to the Assembly within 14 days such direction because the Assembly is not sitting within that period, the minister must ensure that a copy of the direction is given to members of the Assembly within that 14-day period. This does not mean, though, that the direction will not be presented to the Assembly-the direction would be presented to the Assembly at the next available sitting opportunity. This clause ensures that a direction given by the minister to the authority is made known to members of the Assembly within two weeks, if the Assembly is not sitting within that period. Again, it enhances the transparency and accountability provisions of the direction's power.

MRS DUNNE (9.06): Could I seek your guidance please, Mr Speaker. I have an amendment which is similar to but adds to that of the minister. Is it possible to speak to that at the same time?

MR SPEAKER: My advice, Mrs Dunne, is that, if Mr Corbell's amendment succeeds, then you will not be able to put yours anyway. That is my advice-it is either/or.

MRS DUNNE: All right. It is not a die-in-a-ditch issue. Do not worry. It is not even a call-a-division issue.

The issue the minister's amendment addresses here is an important one and it goes to two questions. One is the issue of transparency and the members of the Assembly-and through them the members of the public-becoming aware of decisions of the authority in a timely fashion. The second issue is one of consistency. This again is a testament to the work put in at the round table because, throughout this piece of legislation, Mr Speaker, you will find this amendment, as it appears in clause 11 (3) and (4), appearing in a number of places. It does so in a way that means that, no matter what sort of decision is notifiable under the aegis of this legislation, it will be notified to the Assembly and to members of the Assembly, and through that to the community, in the same consistent way.

When we looked at this in the first instance, we looked at five, six or seven sitting days, and 14 days. This is, in fact, a very manageable and coherent approach. It is a testament to the round-table process that we have come up with this amendment.

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