Page 1996 - Week 06 - Thursday, 9 June 2016
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MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo) (7.51): I will take the opportunity to speak now briefly on the issue of the composition of the Bushfire Council, which Mr Smyth has spoken about. The particular issue that seems to be in contention is the limit of two terms. I gave this some explicit consideration and I have had a few discussions with colleagues about it. I think this is not an unreasonable proposition. There is, of course, a balance to strike here between having good experience on the council—people who have essentially been around and seen it all before—and also offering new opportunities for people with new expertise or making sure that new generations of people come through and get the requisite skills and have the opportunity to participate in these processes.
I do not think having a term limit precludes either of those things. It probably facilitates a little bit of turnover, but I think it is also about two consecutive terms. Minister Corbell said earlier in the discussion we had that it would mean that somebody very experienced in the community who had been around for a while could do a couple of terms then have a term off and could potentially come back, if they were still keen. Over a 20-odd year period or 30-year period, which is the involvement of some people in this area—I am sure Mr Smyth and Mr Corbell could both give me some names of people that have been involved for that long—it is not unreasonable that they have a couple of years off the council, come back on, and those sorts of things. I do not think this precludes people of vast experience both being on the council and potentially spending a considerable amount of time on the council over a number of years. On that basis, I am happy to support the issue of the term limits.
Council also is not an operational body but a strategic planning one. I think that is a consideration in terms of thinking about who should be on it and what their skills should be. For me, that is part of the consideration. It does not need to be lots of people that have been around for forever; it could also be people with particular academic skills and the like. As the list stipulates, a range of experiences are sought on the Bushfire Council. On that basis, I am comfortable with that part of the bill.
Clauses 1 to 4 agreed to.
Clause 5.
MR SMYTH (Brindabella) (7.54): Madam Speaker, there are four clauses coming up, 5, 11, 15 and 46, which I will vote against. I will speak to them all now for the sake of moving the debate on.
What these clauses do is gut the Bushfire Council. What these clauses do is put all of the power into the hands of the commissioner. I think that is unfortunate. These clauses, which required consultation before appointments were made, were put there in 2004, and they were put there because I think it was recognised after the 2003 fires that people without relevant experience were probably getting jobs that they should not have.
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