Page 1317 - Week 04 - Thursday, 30 March 2017

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businesses more time to do what they do best—provide goods and services to the people of the ACT.

Red tape reduction, as part of larger regulatory reform, is an essential part of our ongoing strategy for economic growth and prosperity in the ACT. These amendments help small businesses and charities by cutting down on unnecessary paperwork. Because of this I am very happy to present this bill to the Assembly today.

Debate (on motion by Mr Wall) adjourned to the next sitting.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body Amendment Bill 2017

Ms Stephen-Smith, pursuant to notice, presented the bill, its explanatory statement and a Human Rights Act compatibility statement.

Title read by Clerk.

MS STEPHEN-SMITH (Kurrajong—Minister for Community Services and Social Inclusion, Minister for Disability, Children and Youth, Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, Minister for Multicultural Affairs and Minister for Workplace Safety and Industrial Relations) (10.57): I move:

That this bill be agreed to in principle.

I rise to present the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body Amendment Bill 2017 to the Assembly. During the second term of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body, both the elected body and the government considered that it would be timely to review the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body Act 2008.

Following considerable community consultation in 2015 and further consultation on the outcomes of the review in 2016, the review and government response were tabled in the Assembly on 2 August 2016. The government response at the time accepted all of the recommendations of the review, subject to further consultation with the elected body. I received the elected body’s formal response on 22 December last year.

I would like to thank the elected body and the many members of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community, as well as a number of other stakeholders, for their engagement in this process. I would also like to take this opportunity again to acknowledge the important work that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body does.

The elected body, unique to the ACT, plays a critical role in passing on the views of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the ACT to the government. When the elected body was introduced in 2008 it was described as watershed legislation, not only for the ACT but for the rest of Australia. This important legislation followed on from another important milestone in our nation’s history—the national apology to


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