Page 782 - Week 03 - Thursday, 2 April 2020
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Even if on that threshold question somebody had contacted a member of the opposition and said, “This is the way we are heading. Here is some draft legislation. What do you think?” we could have provided information that could have then formed part of the drafting instructions. Instead we are in a situation where we have extremely significant legislation that has had hardly any scrutiny applied to it at all.
We are pleased that the government agreed to drop some particularly worrying aspects of the legislation late last night, but there are still many other components of this legislation that should be of concern to all of us. We all need to be vigilant to make sure that these powers are not abused.
In this time of crisis, transparency is critical. While decisions have to be made quickly, they should not be made without accountability. Canberrans are looking to this Assembly for transparency and scrutiny. We are talking about hundreds of millions of dollars and extraordinary powers being granted today. We need to make sure that there is transparency.
The decisions we make now will have an enormous impact on the lives of many Canberrans not just now, not just for a few months, but potentially for years to come. Some of these regulations could well stay in force for many years. The regulations do not necessarily expire with the transitional legislation. The regulations could well go on much longer than the transitional clauses that we are agreeing to today. We have to be very careful about this process.
People expect and have the right to know what their government is doing and how they are doing it. This is enshrined through reporting requirements across legislation and, importantly, in the Freedom of Information Act. We recognise the power of information and the right of people to know what their government is doing. We cannot forget the importance of this right during this crisis and we cannot overlook the consequences or significance of withholding information from the public.
The need for transparency does not disappear with a crisis; in fact, it increases. We need more transparency during this crisis, not less. If the government is going to get additional powers through this legislation today, we need to make sure that there are checks and balances and that we are all vigilant in making sure that none of these powers are abused.
Canberrans must have every confidence that any decision being made as a result of the legislation being put forward today is made with accountability and scrutiny. Unfortunately, there is pretty much nothing currently in this bill that puts any transparency measures into the process—just about nothing. Therefore we will be proposing what we think is a very reasonable amendment: that ministers must report every month on the application and impact of these special powers. If a minister is going to use these special powers, it is right that they report it to the public. It is right that they report it to members of the Assembly. This is at least a start, but we firmly believe that more is needed.
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