Page 5184 - Week 13 - Thursday, 29 November 2018
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
(3) in paragraph (6), add the following “If the Commissioner considers that the complaint is more properly the purview of the Integrity Commissioner, the Commissioner shall refer the matter to the Integrity Commissioner.”.
This motion makes some changes to continuing resolution 5AA. I commend it to the Assembly.
MR WALL (Brindabella) (9.14): The opposition will be supporting this motion as it provides an additional element of discretion to the Commissioner for Standards in that he may examine reports that are sent to him. It also allows for the newly created integrity commission to refer matters to the Commissioner for Standards and likewise for the Commissioner for Standards to refer matters to the integrity commission.
The language is consistent with the existing resolution, which is that all correspondence or issues that are to be referred to the Commissioner for Standards be referred by the Clerk of the Assembly. We will keep a close eye on how that operates, as we are continuing to monitor the changes that were made to this resolution earlier in this term.
We do still hold the view in the opposition that any complaints or issues should go directly to the integrity commissioner. I understand the Clerk’s position that he sees his role merely as a post box. But I think that the opposition would be more comfortable if the post box were actually to the commissioner himself rather than its going through an intermediary. Otherwise, the opposition will be supporting this change.
MR RATTENBURY (Kurrajong) (9.15): The Greens support this motion, particularly the element around the integrity commission. This is obviously a necessary follow-up to the legislation we just passed. What it does is embody the idea that we want a range of integrity agencies in the ACT: the Ombudsman, the Auditor-General, the Public Sector Standards Commissioner and the Commissioner for Standards here in the Assembly.
We want to see a seamless movement between those agencies. If an agency receives a complaint or an allegation that it considers not to be in its remit but which is seen to be in the remit of one of the others, we want to see those agencies collaborating and being able to transfer those issues between the different agencies so that where an issue does need to be looked at, it gets investigated quickly and in a timely way by the most appropriate agency. We are pleased to support this motion tonight.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
Integrity Commission—Standing Committee
Establishment
MS J BURCH (Brindabella) (9.17): I move:
That:
(1) a Standing Committee on the Integrity Commission be established to:
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video