Page 233 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 10 December 2008
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I think that is the sensible, informed, considered and constructive way forward. That is the nature of the amendment the Greens have proposed today. I think it reflects the spirit and the letter of the agreement they have entered into with the government.
Equally, the government intends to honour its commitments in that regard by putting in place this mechanism and supporting it in a change to the standing orders. So that approach, I think, will serve this Assembly in good stead, not just in relation to this document but moving forward as we deal with other disputes on similar matters.
MR HANSON (Molonglo) (4.17): The words I want to speak are directed more to the crossbench than to the government in this case. In this case I would not be expecting the government to come forward and want to be more open and accountable and release documents. They have a track record on this. So what I want to do is focus my words, through you, Madam Assistant Speaker, to the crossbench, because this is an issue of openness and accountability. We have certainly heard a lot of rhetoric, a lot of words, from the crossbench, from the Greens, on this issue.
I have only been in the Assembly for a day and a half, but I have heard a lot of debate. It is a new experience for many of us here. In light of what I have heard over the last day and a half, I would like to use some of those examples to lead forward why I think we need to see this document straight away. I will not be supporting the amendment.
If you contrast the rhetoric of the debate with how those debates finish, it is illustrative of what is occurring in this Assembly as opposed to what we thought might be occurring in light of the Greens agreement, in light of the election result and so on. It started yesterday with the inaugurals. The other new Liberal members and I got to speak, and all of us spoke about a desire for more accountable and open government. Indeed, in my inaugural speech, I made three key points. The second one was the objective to keep the government honest and accountable. This goes to the heart of the matter for the release of the document.
One of the next items we considered was the establishment of committees. It goes to the matter of why we have these committees. It is about openness, it is about scrutiny and it is about accountability. I note the enthusiasm with which the crossbench have embraced the committee process in that aim to make the government more open and accountable to scrutiny.
I then refer to the next item that we discussed yesterday, which is the Labor and Greens agreement. I will quote to you from that. This is about accountability:
The purpose being to improve accountability and practice in the relationship between the Executive, Parliament and the Judiciary in the ACT, and improve the involvement of non-executive Assembly Members in the development of legislation, policy and service delivery to the people of the ACT.
I would contend it is difficult to do that if you do not have access to appropriate information.
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