Page 717 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 8 April 2014
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a lack of willingness by some employees to raise these concerns at the higher levels to make sure that they are given the attention that they deserve.
One of the shortcomings that we as a jurisdiction have—and Dr Bourke mentioned it a moment ago—is that we do not always utilise the experience and the expertise on our doorstep locally. We heard from the Australian Indigenous Leadership Centre, which is one of the national leading institutions in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander training and development; yet we as a jurisdiction tend not to utilise its services or expertise anywhere near as effectively as we could or should.
Another item that I would like to briefly touch on is the data collection regarding departing public servants. I am not necessarily just referring to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employers that are leaving the ACT service but to an approach that could be looked at more broadly to work out what we do well as an employer, what we do not do so well and where we could improve. That is important for any employer in any sector.
Again, I put on the record my thanks for the time and the contribution by all those who contributed to the inquiry. It is very much appreciated.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
Territory-owned Corporations Amendment Bill 2014
Debate resumed from 20 March 2014, on motion by Mr Barr:
That this bill be agreed to in principle.
MR SMYTH (Brindabella) (10.14): The opposition will be supporting the bill. The bill is part of the government’s planned sale of ACTTAB and provides for the removal of ACTTAB Ltd from schedule 1, as well as the complete removal of schedule 5 of the Territory-owned Corporations Act 1990. The objective of the bill is to facilitate the sale of the company. The bill also has some consequential amendments to the Taxation (Government Business Enterprises) Regulation 2003. It is simply a machinery of government bill to allow the sale of ACTTAB which the government hopes to complete by the end of this financial year.
The government does not know when the bill will commence. That will be set by the Treasurer, and I thank the Treasurer for the briefing given by his staff. The selling date largely depends on the nature of the sale of ACTTAB and whether or not it will be a share sale or an asset sale. So, that said, the opposition will be supporting the bill.
What we do have, though, with the continuing process, are some concerns that we do not feel have been addressed by the government. Despite the guarantees of the government, one would not be surprised that the opposition does not always take them to be effective. In particular, we hear a lot of murmurings from the staff of ACTTAB, and indeed from some of the unions involved, like United Voice, over the nature of the arrangements and the support that is being given to the ACTTAB staff. It is not
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