Page 969 - Week 04 - Thursday, 3 May 2007
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enacted a number of amendments to the Financial Management Act 1996 to reflect the continuing need to pursue optimal procedures and legislative standards. These include the incorporation of strategic indicators for government departments in addition to the usual accountability practices.
I would also like to echo the Chief Minister’s comments about the funding and the delivery of services to the people in this community by this government and about ensuring that our public servants have good working conditions and safe workplaces. I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate the public servants who work in our health system for the accreditation that they have achieved.
In conclusion: the combination of the legislative frameworks and auditing bodies that support the ACT public sector serves to establish public confidence in the system of ACT government and its public administration.
MR MULCAHY (Molonglo) (5.16): I am pleased to again have the opportunity to speak on governance in the ACT, a matter that is of great concern to all members in the opposition given the performance of this territory government. Ensuring the ACT government adopts and sticks to the core principles of good governance is, indeed, a matter of public importance and if debating it time and time again in this place makes the current government in any way improve its governance practices it is worth every minute of speeches.
Good governance is a standard that the people of Canberra have a right to expect. Over the course of this week and through his actions in government Mr Stanhope has done little to provide the people with a guarantee that his government is delivering this standard. It has been a less than brilliant performance over the past three days as he has stumbled and fumbled his way through in attempting to deal with legitimate issues raised by opposition members.
Sadly, this is no longer an open government; it is secretive, defensive and intolerant of criticism from not only this side of the house but that side as well. Heads roll if anyone questions the fearful leader of this government. When the opposition ask justified and necessary questions probing expenditure within the ACT government how does the leader of this government react? We are treated to rhetoric, abuse and an unwarranted and unproductive defensive attitude.
I was very interested to hear the quotes from when Mr Stanhope was in opposition that Mr Seselja provided yesterday. The leader of the ACT government has forgotten what his performance in opposition was all about. He has forgotten the principles that he admirably committed his government to in 2001 and he has become arrogant and dismissive of any criticism or dissent.
What does governance involve? I am sure those opposite are sick of hearing these things by now, but rest assured you will continue to hear them all the way up to the next election: openness, accountability, transparency, responsibility. I found it comical to hear Ms Porter quote Professor McMillan, whom I have known for 30 years, saying how important FOI was—in fact, he is the architect in Australia of FOI from when he was a very young person in the seventies—when we have become aware of government measures designed to block information on the matters that
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