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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 03 Hansard (Thursday, 11 March 2004) . . Page.. 1121 ..

The other issue—and I must stress that this is not about the current arrangement, but it has been a complaint in the past—is that the registrar has had pressure put on him indirectly when he has attempted to take disciplinary action under the current regime against unsatisfactory builders. We should remove the scope for someone who has that sort of power being pressured by a superior officer to do or not do a particular thing.

This creates certainty, and it creates more confidence in the office of the building registrar—that is, in the office, not in the person. The office holder will, through this amendment, have more autonomy than is currently the case where he is a public servant. There have been significant problems with the administration of building licences in the ACT, and I recommend this as a means of ensuring that the office holder has the autonomy to do the job that he needs to do.

I know that there is concern about this, but I commend the amendment to members because I think that it goes a long way to keeping faith with the community and elevating this important office so that it better serves the whole community—not just the building industry, but the consumers in the building cycle as well.

MR CORBELL (Minister for Health and Minister for Planning) (5.51): The government will not be supporting this amendment for this reason. Clearly, if someone in the private sector is the most suitable applicant for the position, they will be appointed to the public service to undertake the registrar’s functions. The registrar, of course, will continue to have other administrative functions, and the position sits within the ACT Planning and Land Authority, which has statutory independence.

The registrar will be responsible for the operation of ACTPLA’s building, electrical and plumbing control team, which has roles under other legislation, such as the Architects Act, the Scaffolding and Lifts Act and the Building and Construction Industry Training Levy Act. These are clearly related functions that are appropriately managed by the registrar in overseeing statutory responsibilities for construction work. The government’s view is that it is impractical for someone other than a public servant to undertake this role, given the other roles that mesh in with it.

MS TUCKER (5.52): The Greens will not be supporting these amendments. These amendments would establish the registrar as a ministerial appointment, and I do not agree that a direct ministerial appointment of the registrar is necessary or desirable. There is a benefit in independence, and the appointment of the registrar in ACTPLA through the usual competitive public service methods has some attractions over a position that is filled by a minister—arguably, on the advice of a couple of boards.

In fact, there are some real issues with appointments being made without an open appointment process, something we have seen in the courts of late. That is not to reflect on the quality of the appointments but rather to question the process of direct government appointment.

We should bear in mind that the bulk of the decisions made by the registrar will be appellable to the AAT. Amendments to this bill will also see a number of criteria introduced to guide the registrar in the exercise of administrative powers. My amendments to this bill also define the registrar as a government agency for the purpose

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