Page 563 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 9 March 2011
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MS HUNTER (Ginninderra—Parliamentary Convenor, ACT Greens) (10.55): The Greens will not support amendment 17. It is backing up Mrs Dunne’s comments around the fact that we do want annual reporting, not three-yearly reporting. There is a subsequent amendment that we also will not support as we believe that an annual report is necessary.
Amendment negatived.
MS BURCH (Brindabella—Minister for Disability, Housing and Community Services, Minister for Children and Young People, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Multicultural Affairs and Minister for Women) (10.55): I will pay heed to the Assembly on amendments 18 and 19. They have been circulated. I will, though, just say that this is the government’s position, that we do have an alternative—
MR SPEAKER: Ms Burch, are you moving the amendments or not? Sorry, you just cannot have a chat. You can either move them—
MS BURCH: Can I move them? I seek leave to move amendments 18 and 19 together.
Leave granted.
MS BURCH: I move amendments 18 and 19 standing in my name together [see schedule 1 at page 685].
I do apologise for that. The amendments are clearly stated and have been circulated. Members of the opposition and crossbench are aware of the government’s position. I will take heed of the fact that our alternative model is not supported. Whilst I am disappointed, in the essence of moving through this I will just leave it at that. Thank you, Mr Speaker.
MS HUNTER (Ginninderra—Parliamentary Convenor, ACT Greens) (10.57): We will not be supporting these amendments, Mr Speaker. The Greens believe that this is an unnecessary amendment as it changes the reporting period from annually to three-yearly. This is an unusual move, considering that all other jurisdictions report annually. The Children and Young People’s Commissioner currently attends the Australian and New Zealand Child Death Review and Prevention Group meetings as a representative of the ACT.
It was hoped that through the implementation of this legislation this committee would become part of the Australian and New Zealand Child Death Review and Prevention Group and be able to contribute to discussions related to national reform agenda issues, such as cross-border information sharing and a national collection of child death data. As there is a national forum where the ACT information will be used, the ACT Greens believe that we should remain in line with the national trend of annual reporting and, as I said, we will not support this amendment.
On amendment 19, this amendment serves to have the committee report every three years and it defines what the committee must report on. Mr Speaker, it is a cliched
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