Page 1307 - Week 04 - Thursday, 30 March 2017
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The CRA and the SLA may require other entities to consult and work with others, including the public, in relation to urban renewal and new suburbs. This demonstrates the important partnership between government, the community and business to solve problems and make the most of opportunities. Canberrans have made it clear that they want to be involved in building Canberra’s future and we welcome that.
The bill makes provision for the CRA and the SLA boards, their CEOs and staff. It also provides robust governance arrangements and strong accountability to ministers, the government and the community.
Territory land is the ACT’s most valuable physical asset. The government and the community need to be sure that these entities exercise their functions in an open, accountable and transparent way, always acting in the public interest. To this end, the minister will each year make a statement of expectations for an urban renewal precinct. The statement of expectations will set out the government’s requirements and priorities for an urban renewal precinct. Such a statement will be a notifiable instrument and available on the legislation register.
In response to the statement of expectations the CRA board must prepare a draft statement of operational intent setting out how it will give effect to the statement of expectations for the minister’s approval. Following the minister’s approval, the statement of operational intent is a notifiable instrument; so all can see how the CRA will operate to achieve the government’s priorities. Further, the CRA board may only exercise its functions consistent with the approved statement of operational intent.
The bill provides that the SLA must exercise its functions with the approval of the minister. This provision provides a strong, robust link between government priorities and the agency’s functions.
Both the CRA and the SLA are subject to explicit power of ministerial direction. That power provides ultimate control to direct a board to act or not act in a particular way. Such directions would be notifiable instruments, providing openness and transparency for the public.
The Financial Management Act 1996 applies to territory authorities, their governing boards and members of boards, including governance and accountability. This bill supplements the obligations placed on territory authority governing boards and their members by expressly providing that members of the board have a duty to the minister to act in good faith, not to pursue personal interests at the expense of the CRA, not to use board membership to gain personal advantage and to not cause detriment to the CRA or undermine the reputation of the authority.
The governance structures in the bill provide the following hierarchy: CEOs are responsible to their respective board, the boards have a duty to the minister and the minister, via the Assembly, is responsible to the people of Canberra.
When I formally announced on 8 March that the government would be bringing forward legislation to create new agencies to build Canberra’s future, I stated the new
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