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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 05 Hansard (Thursday, 13 May 2004) . . Page.. 1782 ..

Ministers should take reasonable steps to ensure the factual content of statements they make in the Assembly are soundly based and that they correct any inadvertent error at the earliest opportunity.

The code of conduct is very clear. It is essential that ministers make every effort to ensure that their statements to the Legislative Assembly are factual, and to the best of their knowledge soundly based. This is a vital foundation of the Westminster system of ministerial responsibility. Being answerable to the Assembly requires ministers to ensure that they do not wilfully mislead the Assembly. The code recognises that ministers can and do make mistakes. The key principle is that they should not wilfully mislead or deceive—that, indeed, is a grave offence. And where it is found that a minister has made an inadvertent error, the minister is duty bound to correct that error at the earliest opportunity.

These principles are applied in all other Australian jurisdictions. Thus, the Commonwealth government’s current guide on key elements of ministerial responsibility states:

Ministers must be honest in their public dealings and should not intentionally mislead the Parliament or the public.

Any misconception caused inadvertently should be corrected at the earliest opportunity.

Similarly the South Australian government’s ministerial code of conduct states:

Ministers must ensure they do not deliberately mislead the public or the Parliament on any matter of significance arising from their functions.

It is a Minister’s personal responsibility to ensure that any inadvertent error or misconception in relation to a matter is corrected or clarified, as soon as possible and in a manner appropriate to the issues and interests involved.

In all Australian jurisdictions, it is a not uncommon practice for ministers to correct inadvertent or unintentional errors in their public and parliamentary statements. Ministers are duty bound to correct any inadvertent errors as soon as they become aware of any statement they have made which is incorrect, omits critical fact or is otherwise misleading. Ministers who make inadvertent errors may well be criticised; that may well be appropriate; but it is not a hanging offence if they move quickly and appropriately to correct or clarify any misleading statement.

In the ACT, ministers must accept responsibility for any inadvertent mistakes they might make in their statements to the Assembly, and they must correct the record as soon as possible. The Assembly and ultimately the ACT electorate may form a view about the actions and performance of a minister or the Chief Minister. There is very clearly, however, no rule in the ACT or elsewhere in Australia that a minister, premier or chief minister must resign or be removed from office by a resolution of no confidence in circumstances which do not involve a wilful misleading of the Assembly or a gross failure to correct a misleading statement.

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