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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 8 Hansard (21 August) . . Page.. 2990 ..

MS GALLAGHER (continuing):

The proposed amendment to the Long Service Leave Act 1976 will provide that pro rata long service leave payments will be required where employees are made redundant after five years of service rather than the existing requirement for seven years service. The proposed amendments to the bill will establish an equality of entitlement for all of the territory's workers in the private sector regardless of what scheme they are covered by.

Mr Speaker, I ask the Assembly to note the Long Service Leave Legislation Amendment Bill 2003 and the explanatory notes to the bill.

Debate (on motion by Mr Pratt ) adjourned to the next sitting.

Financial Management Amendment Bill 2003 (No 2)

Mr Quinlan, pursuant to notice, presented the bill and its explanatory statement.

Title read by acting clerk.

MR QUINLAN (Treasurer, Minister for Economic Development, Business and Tourism, and Minister for Sport, Racing and Gaming) (10.35): I move:

Mr Speaker, today I am tabling Financial Management Amendment Bill 2003 (No 2). This bill provides for a number of amendments to the Financial Management Act 1996 in relation to improved financial management processes.

Mr Speaker, during the last election campaign the government advised that it would support a charter of financial integrity. The government considers that the community should be entitled to as much information as possible regarding the true financial state of the territory and that this information be made available in a timely and accessible way.

Rather than having separate charter legislation, the government considers it more appropriate, being a small jurisdiction, to incorporate such provisions into the existing financial management legislation. The Financial Management Act 1996 is the cornerstone upon which the effective financial management of the territory rests and incorporation of the proposed improved financial management provisions into this act will provide a single cohesive financial framework for the territory.

Mr Speaker, the government notes that the opposition tabled in December 2002 the Financial Legislation (Integrity and Responsibility) Amendment Bill of 2002. The purpose of this bill was to improve the scrutiny of the ACT's financial operations by enshrining certain principles of sound financial management into law, and by updating financial information at appropriate intervals, especially prior to ACT elections.

Although the government broadly supports some of the principles included in the opposition bill, we note that the bill is mainly a duplication of Victorian and Commonwealth legislation. As some of these provisions are not suitable to a small jurisdiction, the government has refined the requirements to be more applicable to the

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