Page 3718 - Week 10 - Thursday, 14 September 2017
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The fifth and last point is that this bill seeks to amend the Precincts Act in two key ways: firstly, clauses 15 and 16 remove references to the members’ entrance canopy, which is no longer a physical structure within the precincts, having been inadvertently damaged and later removed over 10 years ago.
Secondly, through clauses 17 and 18, the bill seeks to amend the Speaker’s capacity to delegate certain powers and functions to a broader class of the staff within the Office of the Legislative Assembly. Under the current act, only the Speaker may approve licences to use the Assembly’s precincts and, to facilitate greater administrative efficiency in the arrangements for licensing the use of the Assembly’s facilities, an amendment enables the Speaker to delegate those Speaker’s functions to the Clerk, a member of staff of the office who has the employment classification of senior officer grade C or above, or a member of staff of the Office of the Legislative Assembly who is responsible for the security of the Assembly.
An amendment is also proposed to enable the Speaker to delegate the power to remove people from the precincts to a broader class of staff within the office. Under the current arrangements, the Speaker may only delegate these powers to the Serjeant-at-Arms or to the principal attendant. The proposed amendment recognises changes to the organisational structure of the office and that there are legitimate operational imperatives for the exercise of these powers by staff other than the two officers that I have just mentioned. In the event that the Assembly passes this amendment, I would expect that an instrument would be tabled in the near future delegating this power to the Clerk, the Serjeant-at-Arms, the general manager, committee secretaries and the manager, security and building services. I commend this bill to the Assembly.
MR GENTLEMAN (Brindabella—Minister for Police and Emergency Services, Minister for the Environment and Heritage, Minister for Planning and Land Management and Minister for Urban Renewal) (11.075): Due to the complexities of this bill and not understanding whether Max will get a promotion, unpaid or not, I move:
That the debate be adjourned.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
Environment and Transport and City Services—Standing Committee
Statement by chair
MS ORR (Yerrabi): Pursuant to standing order 246A, I wish to make a statement on behalf of the Standing Committee on Environment and Transport and City Services. At a private meeting on 6 September 2017 the committee resolved to conduct an inquiry into the lower Cotter catchment reserve management plan 2017. The plan has been prepared in accordance with the provisions of chapter 8 of the ACT Nature Conservation Act 2014.
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