Page 2130 - Week 06 - Thursday, 8 June 2017
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
They did not pay any lease variation charge. Why is this? Because they claimed that the property would be less valuable with 36 apartments on it than it was before.
This is a rort. If the development was less valuable with 36 apartments, why would you develop it? In contrast if you want to create a dual occupancy in Kambah you will have to fork out $30,000 or $60,000. But if you are developing 36 apartments in Braddon with connections to the Labor movement, you do not pay a cent.
These seven scandals—the CFMEU $4 million headquarter purchase and the $1 lease back, Labor’s 489 poker machines and their recent acquisitions, the MOU with Unions ACT, the Glebe Park and lakeside deals, the Woden Tradies car park, the $9.25 million rural lease purchase and Labor’s Braddon apartment deal—have cost the ACT taxpayer tens of millions of dollars. And those opposite do not seem to care. What is more, I think quite a few of them do not think there is much of a problem with it.
There is a better way and the Canberra Liberals will make it happen. I am proud to announce six integrity measures that the Canberra Liberals will move to implement. These are in addition to establishing an ICAC. Firstly, today I call for the establishment of a public works committee for the ACT. This committee process will help safeguard the territory against recurring problems with government infrastructure projects. I propose that the public accounts committee take on the role of a public works committee and receive automatic referrals of procurements over a certain threshold, perhaps $2 million. Progress updates would also be provided to the committee.
Given this level of reporting already takes place within government, the provision of this information to an Assembly committee will be easy to comply with. Of course, the committee would be required to provide a speedy response to referrals and this timetable should be legislated.
Secondly, the Canberra Liberals do not believe that whistleblower legislation is working. The current public interest disclosure process is daunting and serves as a major impediment to public servants calling out unethical or illegal behaviour. As such, the Canberra Liberals propose making it easier to call out actual or potential wrongdoing. We need more disclosure officers who are outside the bureaucracy and we need mechanisms other than a PID for reporting wrongdoing.
Thirdly, the Canberra Liberals propose that Assembly committees will receive twice yearly progress reports on the audit activities of each ACT government agency. The committees could, perhaps in camera, hear about the audit schedule, hear about reports and recommendations and receive progress reports on their implementation. This information will go hand in hand with the annual reports scrutiny process that the committees currently undertake.
Fourthly, the Canberra Liberals believe that far more clarity and certainty are required in the unsolicited proposals process. Neither government nor proponents are well served by the current system. There needs to be more clarity in timelines, legislated IP protection and public reporting on the status of advanced proposals.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video