Page 1294 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 3 April 2019

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The Canberra Liberals are committed to integrity, and we are committed to ensuring that whistleblowers, brave whistleblowers, are listened to and protected. We hope that this motion today will provide further assurance to potential whistleblowers and past whistleblowers that we respect them and, importantly, that it will result in action from the government.

MR BARR (Kurrajong—Chief Minister, Treasurer, Minister for Social Inclusion and Equality, Minister for Tourism and Special Events and Minister for Trade, Industry and Investment) (3.03): I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Leader of the Opposition’s motion. I move the amendment circulated in my name:

Omit all words after “That this Assembly”, substitute:

“(1) notes:

(a) the need for a strong public interest disclosure (PID) framework in the ACT;

(b) that current PID processes are sometimes complex, lengthy, and often require legal expertise to navigate;

(d) the ACT Government has consistently demonstrated its commitment to transparency and integrity in public administration through reforms to Freedom of Information rules, the establishment of the ACT Integrity Commission, and reforms to political donation laws;

(e) the need for a review of the effectiveness of the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2012 (the PID Act) has been raised and agreed to during this Assembly;

(f) the Government agreed to hold a review into the PID Act in response to Recommendation 78 of the Select Committee on an Independent Integrity Commission’s report tabled on 31 October 2017, Inquiry into an Independent Integrity Commission, and the Government agreed that the issues for consideration in that review would include:

relationships between existing integrity bodies in the ACT, including the sharing of information and the referral of complaints; oversight and accountability mechanisms; and identifying gaps in the current framework to determine solutions;

(g) Recommendation 78 of the Inquiry into an Independent Integrity Commission report states:

the Committee recommends that the ACT Government appoint an independent person to conduct a statutory review of the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2012 (the PID Act). The Review, amongst other things, should consider: (a) any potential conflict of interest (real or perceived) as it concerns decision makers and disclosure officers under the PID Act; (b) the findings of the Moss Review examining the operation of the Commonwealth Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 as it concerns the strengthening of that legislation to achieve the Act’s integrity and accountability aims; (c) the matters raised in submission No 3 (as detailed

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