Page 3511 - Week 08 - Thursday, 18 August 2011
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
the ACT public service and I thought that the community had an interest in knowing who the government nomination was.
MR SPEAKER: Mr Smyth, a supplementary?
MR SMYTH: Thank you, Mr Speaker. Chief Minister, did you speak with the Chair of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts about the proposed appointment in the days following your media release?
MS GALLAGHER: Yes, I did. I had a conversation with—
Mr Seselja: Yesterday you said you didn’t.
MS GALLAGHER: No—
MR SPEAKER: Order! Let us hear the answer.
MS GALLAGHER: I did not have a conversation along the lines of what I was being accused of yesterday. I had a conversation with Ms Le Couteur, as I had been made aware that the committee was angry at the fact that I had put out a media release announcing the appointment. I went to Ms Le Couteur to apologise and to say that I had not meant to offend the committee in any way, but that I had intended to make it clear to the public who the government’s nomination was.
MR SPEAKER: A supplementary, Mr Seselja?
MR SESELJA: Chief Minister, will you now as a matter of course be putting out media releases in relation to statutory appointments prior to their approval through committee processes?
MS GALLAGHER: I have that under review, considering how upset I have made a range of members in this place. Without any intention to upset members, I seem to have upset some. It was my intention that, for government nominations, particularly to prominent statutory positions, that the government should be clear with the community who our nominations were. But I will take advice from the Assembly based on the concerns that have been raised with me about whether this is appropriate. But I say that in the interests of my trying to put out as much information as possible to the community about government reports, government decisions and, in this instance, government nominations.
MR HARGREAVES: A supplementary.
MR SPEAKER: Yes, Mr Hargreaves.
MR HARGREAVES: Thanks very much, Mr Speaker. Chief Minister, have you received any feedback at all from the community, or anybody else for that matter, other than the public accounts committee, following your announcement of the nomination?
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video