Page 351 - Week 01 - Thursday, 16 February 2012
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business, works extended hours and often at night and on weekends. This is not uncommon for Assembly staff. In fact, it is regularly included as part of job advertisements for members’ staff. But the nature of the role to interact with community groups means it is even more so for this role than for others. It has assisted the MLAs in their role of being in contact with the community on a regular and ongoing basis, and the hours worked by the staff member reflect that unprecedented commitment to community engagement.
(j) Staff of my office and those of most other MLAs do work at home and off site from time to time. Some staff, such as media staff, regularly take late night and early morning calls from their homes and do extensive work on weekends, hardly any of which is recorded, let alone reclaimed by those staff. Policy staff would meet with all manner of stakeholders off site regularly. It is not unheard of for some of those staff to spend an entire day working off site.
For the staff member in question, this is particularly true when the Assembly is sitting, as this is when members would be most likely to be unable to attend community functions, and staff would be asked to attend on behalf of myself or my colleagues. This is not formalised but conducted on an informal understanding between staff and member. It is my understanding this is the same situation in many offices.
(k) and (l) Staff from my office, as is the case with staff in offices of all political persuasions, will volunteer to work for their respective parties during campaigns and in ongoing support. Sometimes this is done using formal leave, but it is just as often informal contributions made in their own time, after hours or on weekends. Many staff are passionate and are prepared and eager to be involved in all aspects of the political process, and I applaud this dedication.
I also make submissions in relation to the motion passed by the Assembly. The motion calls for an audit within the context of the motion that was passed and, in particular, in relation to some of the very serious but unsubstantiated accusations laid in the chamber under the cover of parliamentary privilege. We were told we needed the audit to investigate serious allegations of fraud. I trust the audit will be used for this purpose alone.
It is not within the scope of the motion to use this mechanism as a political fishing expedition, nor will I accept it to be used as such. It is not appropriate to impinge on private or public rights. It is there to establish the truth or falsehood of the serious claims made. I will accept any reasonable recommendations of any reasonably conducted audit. Further, as so much work has already been done on these matters, there would seem no need for this inquiry to be drawn out. I look forward to the matter being treated expeditiously.
The audit also gives power for the auditor to access swipe card and computer log-in records. This would not be of any substantial use to a staff member that has been tasked to be out in the community. I note that many people enter and exit the building without swiping and computer logs-ins vary substantially due to the individual work practices. These limitations should be recognised in any further investigation. I would caution against setting a precedent for unfettered audits, especially when the
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