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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 01 Hansard (Tuesday, 10 February 2004) . . Page.. 31 ..

enable it to operate across all agencies and departments and report back to the Assembly. Recommendation 6 refers to the future of Canberra airport, which is important to all Canberrans. The committee report asks the government to update members regularly in relation to that matter. Recommendation 7 refers to how we, as members and as legislators, go about our job.

On 31 December regulations for the banning of asbestos—and this was part of a national ban—should have come into force in the ACT. Unfortunately, on 16 December those regulations were not available to the committee, therefore, they were certainly not available to the Assembly. We are always confronted with issues about resources, pieces of legislation being passed and implementing them on time. However, in this case the timeframes did not enable scrutiny by the Assembly before the commencement of those regulations—an increasing trend. So regulations that are introduced could be disallowed almost six weeks later. That is not the way to implement law and achieve good outcomes.

Recommendation 7 refers to the role of the Assembly in creating good law and in ensuring that the interests of constituents are looked after. I urge the government to ensure that regulations are tabled in future in such a manner that we are able to do our jobs properly. I willingly acknowledge that that is a big ask and that that probably has not happened in the term of former governments, but it is something that we should be working towards. All members would be aware that local community councils sometimes get into difficulties. At the moment some councils seem to be going through a tough period.

Recommendation 8 states that, when the government is providing funding to such councils or committees, they should also be provided with appropriate internal complaint mechanisms. If necessary, the government should also provide conflict resolution support so that those valuable committees in our community can continue. We want to ensure that they deliver services for the community rather than get caught up in internal politics. I think that is fairly reasonable in those cases where money has been apportioned to them.

Recommendation 9 picks up on the status of women report that was tabled in the Assembly more than 12 months ago. One of the recommendations—a recommendation that was noted in the Chief Minister’s annual reports directions—was that agencies and organisations should address a gender balance. As that has not happened the committee would like that to occur. Recommendation 10 is a minor issue. In about August the Treasurer tables in the Assembly a reconciliation for the Treasurer’s Advance. We believe that that reconciliation should also be included in annual reports so that it is available for future reference. We do not want to have to go through a different set of documents to find core business items in the Treasurer’s annual report. It would be nice to have that breakdown of expenditure available at all times.

Members would be aware that the Public Accounts Committee comprises three chairs who serve also as members of the committee. Some of those committee members established that the independence of commissions is often questioned. Recommendation 11 states that the government should review the Gambling and Racing Control Act to ensure the independence of the ACT Gambling and Racing Commission. On a number of

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