Page 3195 - Week 10 - Thursday, 25 September 2014
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this reflects, perhaps, the practicalities of working in party groupings in the sense that there will be discussion, be it in the caucus room, the party room or whatever group we collect in, of the tactics for a coming parliamentary period or parliamentary sitting. It is appropriate, in my view, for members to be able to share information with their colleagues that will help them prepare for those parliamentary sittings.
Ultimately the committee has recommended that standing order 241 be amended by inserting a new subparagraph 241(ba) that reads:
Members of the Committee may discuss a committee report with other Members on a confidential basis in the time between the substantial conclusion of the Committee’s deliberations on the report and its presentation to the Assembly.
My interpretation of the rationale for that is that members should, while they are on a committee, continue to operate perhaps independently in the spirit that we, I think, collectively have the view that members should participate on committees as an individual and, as Mr Hargreaves used to say, as a parliamentarian, not necessarily as a representative of one’s party, and that we come to these committees with an open mind to look at the issues as they are presented to us. But then once the committee has finalised its deliberations, as I spoke of earlier, there is a freedom to discuss that with other members but on a confidential basis.
We were quite clear in our discussions that if another member is to receive information that is confidential they should not disclose that to non-members of the Assembly, they should not disclose it to the media. It should simply allow for the functioning of this place in recognition of the fact that we work as parliamentary teams.
I think that summarises the views of the committee and I do commend the report to the Assembly.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
Statute Law Amendment Bill 2014 (No 2)
Mr Corbell, pursuant to notice, presented the bill, its explanatory statement and a Human Rights Act compatibility statement.
Title read by Clerk.
MR CORBELL (Molonglo—Attorney-General, Minister for Police and Emergency Services, Minister for the Environment and Minister for Capital Metro) (10.54): I move:
That this bill be agreed to in principle.
The Statute Law Amendment Bill 2014 (No 2) makes statute law revision amendments to ACT law under guidelines for the technical amendments program approved by the government. The program provides for amendments that are minor or
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