Page 254 - Week 01 - Thursday, 15 December 2016

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(d) the Chair shall be a Crossbench member;

(3) the select committee be provided with necessary staff, facilities and resources;

(4) the select committee to report by the end of August 2017;

(5) 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;

(6) 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; and

(7) nominations for membership of the committee be notified in writing to the Speaker within two hours following conclusion of the debate on the matter.

Over the course of the past three Assemblies, consecutive Labor governments have established and enshrined robust integrity mechanisms to ensure that public trust in government is maintained to a very high standard. These mechanisms have included the introduction of a ministerial code of conduct; the Assembly standards commissioner; the Assembly ethics and integrity commissioner; and the ministerial staff codes of conduct. In addition, this government has introduced significant changes in regard to the release of information which have resulted in the unparalleled delivery of openness and transparency in government.

The Labor Party went to the 2016 election with a promise to the people of Canberra to further reinforce the core principles of integrity in government by establishing an independent integrity commission. It is very encouraging to note that the opposition and the ACT Greens also took pledges to establish an integrity commission for the ACT to the 2016 election. To this end, it is a pleasant change in the cut-and-thrust nature of Assembly processes for there to be not only bipartisan but tripartisan support for the establishment of the independent integrity commission. I look forward to support for the motion.

MR RATTENBURY (Kurrajong) (12.19): This is the select committee into the most effective and efficient model for an independent integrity commission for the ACT. I am very pleased to see the establishment of this committee. The Greens took this to the election as an important policy, having the right mechanism in the ACT—where community concerns were raised—having the right body to be able to investigate them. We think that having a committee is a valuable way for Assembly members to work together to ensure that we have the right model for this jurisdiction.

There is a range of quite detailed technical issues to sort out. A committee is an effective way to start on that so that there can be, ideally, a tripartisan approach to

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