Page 2811 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 29 June 2011
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parties that receive money from unions affiliated with clubs. If this is a standard you apply to the Labor Party then obviously it is a standard you apply to yourselves.
Government—ethical investment
MS HUNTER: My question is to the Treasurer and concerns the government’s votes in shareholder resolutions. Treasurer, I recently asked you a question on notice about how the government had voted in a number of resolutions put to annual general meetings of companies that the ACT is a shareholder in. In your answer you indicated that, at the time, the government had not yet determined how it intended to vote on a resolution re Delta Airlines that was due to be put at their AGM tomorrow. Could you please advise the Assembly on how the government intends to vote on the resolution requiring the company to adopt a human rights policy that addresses the issue of child sexual exploitation in their operations?
MS GALLAGHER: I am certainly happy to take some advice from Treasury around this. I did speak with them around the issue of upcoming votes, and it is not the practice of a member of the executive to instruct our investment advisers on how to vote on particular resolutions. That is a function that, in the best interests of the financial management of the territory, we take expert advice on.
I understand the Greens’ interest in this and their belief that they think a shareholder like the ACT can take a particular point of view on individual motions. I have had it explained to me in detail that that is not actually how these motions are dealt with at meetings and that there is not specifically a motion that deals with child sex exploitation that shareholders then vote against or vote for. I can honestly say that Treasury and our investment advisers do not attend meetings and stand there and oppose votes on the floor on specific motions like that.
I am happy to take some further advice on any action that was taken, and I did ask for some specific advice on Delta. I have not seen it come back, but if you tell me that the vote is tomorrow, I expect we will be able to find that information for you shortly.
MR SPEAKER: A supplementary question, Ms Hunter?
MS HUNTER: Minister, could you in that advice please explain how a vote against this would be consistent with the ACT Human Rights Act, which states, “Every child has the right to the protection needed by the child because of being a child, without distinction or discrimination of any kind”?
MS GALLAGHER: I think the issue, again, of ethical investment and ethical investment practices is another one of those, like electoral reform, live ones for discussion in the Assembly. Indeed, we have an inquiry into some legislation that has been presented by the Greens. I accept that we need to be constantly building on the processes that we have put in place. But as a government, with the work that the Greens have done, and I will accept that, around investigating and urging us to sign up to the principles of responsible investment, we have done that. We have had a review of how that is going. It showed that we are performing very well. Indeed, we really
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