Page 1372 - Week 05 - Thursday, 18 June 2020

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community being able to see various reporting moments in light of the fact that, because of COVID, this year’s normal cycle of budget et cetera has been changed quite substantially.

MR COE (Yerrabi—Leader of the Opposition) (4.38): Of course I am very supportive of Ms Lawder’s amendment. The amendment is very important with regard to increased transparency and increased consultation at a time when we are giving the government more power. As I have said before, extraordinary powers require extraordinary scrutiny. Therefore it is reasonable that the government should publish the most recent financials as of 30 April.

In addition to that, if they are going to use the prerogative of not having a budget to announce more things, surely in the absence of an appropriation the government should at least be consulting with the Greens and with the Liberals before spending this money without appropriation? It is pretty straightforward. This is not hyperpolitical. Consult with the leaders of all parties in the Assembly before such measures are announced.

I note that the commonwealth publishes monthly reports already. You can go to Finance’s website. Every month, four weeks in arrears, they publish monthly statements of accounts. The ACT government does this internally. How hard would it be to allow Canberrans to actually see what the state of their money is?

Finally, given that they already have these documents in house already, simply come in here and table them. I think it is pretty reasonable. Everything that Mr Gentleman has put forward is useful information, but there is no commitment there. It is all just useful information that, quite frankly, we could have got any other way. I urge Mr Rattenbury and Ms Le Couteur to support greater transparency and some collaboration in these extraordinary times.

Question put:

That the amendment be agreed to.

The Assembly voted—

Ayes 6

Noes 7

Mr Coe

Mr Milligan

Mr Barr

Mr Gentleman

Mrs Dunne

Mr Wall

Ms Berry

Mr Rattenbury

Mr Hanson

Ms J Burch

Ms Stephen-Smith

Ms Lawder

Ms Cheyne

Question resolved in the negative.

MR GENTLEMAN (Brindabella—Manager of Government Business, Minister for Advanced Technology and Space Industries, Minister for the Environment and Heritage, Minister for Planning and Land Management, Minister for Police and Emergency Services and Minister for Urban Renewal) (4.43): I move:

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