Page 911 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 20 March 2012
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The government’s responsible investment policy, investment arrangements and exposures will be made available, when finalised, through Treasury’s website. Reporting on the financial investments, incorporating appropriate disclosure of the investment practices and investment exposures, will be provided through Treasury’s annual report.
I commend the government response to the Assembly.
MR SMYTH (Brindabella) (3.20): It is pleasing to see the government respond to something, I think probably within the time frame. That is a good start. As the minister has said, and I have only just received this, he has agreed to three of the recommendations: recommendation 1, recommendation 3 and recommendation 5. Recommendation 1 is that if the bill is presented in its current format it not be supported by the Assembly. It is good to see the government accept the wisdom of the committee that you and I were on, Mr Assistant Speaker Hargreaves.
MR ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Mr Hargreaves): Strange that, Mr Smyth.
MR SMYTH: Recommendation 3 recommends:
… that the ACT Government report annually (as an appendix to the Treasury Directorate annual report) on changes it has made to its investment portfolio …
That is certainly welcome. Sorry—to the policy; that is particularly welcome. Recommendation 5 is “to ensure consistency with recognised investment terminology” and to promote “a common understanding” that we use the “doing well by doing good” investment policy framework. That has been agreed to as well, which is good.
A number of the recommendations were agreed to in principle. Some of them present tasks for the government, particularly recommendation 8, which says:
The Committee recommends that the ACT Government publish a list of the companies in which it holds shares, as part of the annual requirement to report on the proposed responsible investment policy.
The government supports it in principle, with a rider. The response says:
The Government supports the disclosure of the companies in which the Territory owns shares. The extent and/or timing of this disclosure may be subject to commercial and contractual restrictions and negotiations with relevant external investment service providers.
I would be interested in time to see a fuller explanation of that—as to why owning a share may not be able to be disclosed. It might be because the way we invest in funds that own blocks of shares may cause difficulties as the funds may wish to keep their strategy secret or at least internal, but I am very curious to know what the government would think was a valid reason for not making public the companies in which it owns shares.
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