Page 1521 - Week 04 - Thursday, 29 March 2012

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(b) two Members to be nominated by the Opposition; and

to be notified in writing to the Speaker by 4 pm today;

(3) an Opposition Member shall be elected chair of the committee by the committee;

(4) funds be provided by the Parliament to permit the engagement of external expertise to work with the committee to facilitate the analysis of the Budget and the preparation of the report of the committee;

(5) the committee is to report by Tuesday, 14 August 2012;

(6) if the Assembly is not sitting when the committee has completed its inquiry, the committee may send its report to the Speaker or, in the absence of the Speaker, to the Deputy Speaker, who is authorised to give directions for its printing, publishing and circulation; and

(7) the foregoing provisions of this resolution, so far as they are inconsistent with the standing orders, have effect notwithstanding anything contained in the standing orders.

It is that time of the year again, members. Yes, another estimates committee is rolling towards us with great certainty. This is the standing motion that I would normally move to set it up. I draw members’ attention particularly to part (4), which says that if the Assembly is not sitting the report can be sent to the Speaker for distribution, given that the budget will not be tabled until the first week in June. Therefore, the next opportunity to report is about 14 August, which is the reporting date mentioned in the motion.

Should the committee be expeditious in getting its work together, they could perhaps get it out a bit early for some lovely winter fireside reading. That said, it is the standard motion and I look forward to another round of estimates.

MS BRESNAN (Brindabella) (11.33): I move:

Omit paragraph (3), substitute:

“(3) a non-government Member shall be elected chair of the committee by the committee;”.

There is a bit of deja vu here. My amendment amends paragraph (3) of Mr Smyth’s motion. It removes the proposal that an opposition member shall be elected chair of the committee and replaces it with one that states a non-government member should be elected chair of the committee.

As I said, there is a bit of deja vu. Mr Smyth did the same thing last year. I think it is right that a non-government member be elected chair of the committee. But I am sure that the committee members themselves will have the ability and the skill to be able to

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