Page 2883 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 29 June 2011

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creating a supportive work environment that assists them to stay in employment. At the same time, the business makes an economic contribution through the services it creates and provides. It is a highly successful and proven model and one we should build on here in the ACT.

I will add that we have people with great expertise available to draw on, including Social Ventures Australia, which has been noted by the Chief Minister. It is actually groups like Social Ventures Australia who are promoting and calling for social procurement practices. These are the people that offer advice to the Victorian government and to the city councils in and around Brisbane. This is not a new concept. This is something which is being promoted and used across the country and across the world and they have not experienced any anticompetitive suggestions, as Mrs Dunne has put forward. These demonstration projects, again—and this is a key aspect of Ms Hunter’s motion—are so important.

I will just add in relation to Mrs Dunne that I do not need to make nasty comments, frankly, about her motivations. I had the facts in this speech about why social ventures and social procurement are important, and the people who are actually promoting this are the experts. This is why we are putting this motion today. I commend it to the Assembly.

At 6 pm, in accordance with standing order 34, the debate was interrupted. The motion for the adjournment of the Assembly having been put and negatived, the debate was resumed.

MRS DUNNE (Ginninderra) (6.00), by leave: I move the following amendment to Ms Gallagher’s amendment:

Omit paragraphs (2) and (3), substitute:

“(2) calls on Mr Speaker to develop a policy that enables social procurement as a procurement option for the Legislative Assembly for the ACT and report to the Assembly by the last sitting day in December 2011; and

(3) calls on the Government to:

(a) develop a whole-of-government policy for social procurement, which promotes social procurement as a valid procurement option for the Government, but which also upholds the principles of a competitive economy and respects the requirements of the Government Procurement Act 2001 and the Government Procurement Regulation 2007;

(b) develop a strategy for implementing the policy, including trialling the policy and raising awareness of the policy across government; and

This amendment is the same as the original amendment that I foreshadowed, and I thank the clerks at the table for their advice on how to get around the issues.

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