Page 5661 - Week 15 - Thursday, 10 December 2009
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should be mindful of declarations that, in their current form, require the identification of interests of a partner or a family member as a result of their particular commercial life or their interests and a declaration that potentially identifies their workplace or identifies where they might be personally confronted or put at risk.
So I just make that as perhaps an issue that we need to continue to be mindful of and about as we continue to expand, through technology, information about our private or personal affairs that should, of course, appropriately be declared, but to ensure that we do not create some unanticipated issues for family members. I say that as one who has directly received threats of harm and death and as one whose wife and daughter have had, in answering the telephone, threats to my life made to them. I can assure you, there is nothing more unsettling or offensive than to be subjected to that sort of behaviour. So I just make that caution, but the government supports fully and wholly this proposal.
MS BRESNAN (Brindabella) (11.34): The Greens will also be supporting this motion. It does bring the ACT in line with other states and territories in terms of what they provide in terms of public information. I think it is also a fairly practical measure to be putting in place. I do take Mrs Dunne’s point as well about executive information that is provided, and I think that it is something that the admin and procedure committee will probably look at in the future. I also note what Mr Stanhope has said about protecting individuals and not exposing the family members or spouses of members to the types of actions which are very unsettling. I have to say that when I was first elected I did actually receive some phone calls at home, probably not of the nature that Mr Stanhope has, but I do understand what it might be like to have that happen to your family when it is not something they should be exposed to, and members should not be exposed to it either. Just to reiterate, the Greens will be supporting this. I thank Mr Rattenbury for bringing this initiative to the Assembly.
MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo) (11.35), in reply: I thank members for their support. I would particularly like to thank Mrs Dunne for bringing forward those couple of suggestions this morning to ensure that the implementation of this is as smooth as possible. I particularly take note of the Chief Minister’s comments. I think they are important comments around personal safety, and I would just make the observation that it is something we do need to be vigilant about. I invite members, if there are concerns about the implementation of this procedure, to please approach me or the admin and procedure committee as soon as possible so that we can continue to ensure those issues are dealt with whilst at the same time having the transparency that we are obliged to undertake given the role that we play in the ACT. I thank members for their support and look forward to continuing to work with you on these matters.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
Committees—process
MRS DUNNE (Ginninderra) (11.36): I move:
That this Assembly:
(1) re-affirms the importance of the Assembly committee process and its role in:
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