Page 1395 - Week 05 - Thursday, 18 June 2020
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cabinet. Importantly, the proactive approach to implementing and sustaining the AHPPC advice has been vital in controlling the spread of COVID-19 in Australia. This, in turn, has prevented Australia from experiencing the devastating economic consequences of widespread COVID-19 infections and deaths that have been seen in many overseas jurisdictions.
As I said in my previous speech, since the start of the emergency the ACT government has provided significant financial support to the community to deal with the impacts of COVID-19, through a series of stimulus measures. This is targeted support for those businesses and sectors hardest hit as a result of the COVID-19 emergency. Should an individual or business consider that their exceptional circumstances warrant specific financial support, the ACT government retains the capacity to consider such matters through the discretionary act of grace framework under the Financial Management Act.
We have considered all of the options available to government and the matters detailed. Given that, and the matters that I have just outlined, I remain, and the government remains, of the view that this bill is a proportionate response.
Mrs Dunne has said a number of times that we indicated in briefings that it was too hard to write guidelines. It was not too hard; it was impossible to write guidelines that would sufficiently protect the fiscal position of the territory. It was not possible to write guidelines that would align with administrative law while sufficiently protecting the fiscal position of the territory.
In voting against this bill in principle, in supporting the current compensation provisions of the Public Health Act, the opposition have yet again shown their complete fiscal irresponsibility, their ability to just promise anything to anyone without saying how they would pay for it.
I think Mrs Dunne, and particularly Mr Coe, will be very pleased if they form government after the election in October. Whoever is the health minister then—it obviously will not be Mrs Dunne; presumably it will be Mrs Jones, but whoever is the health minister then—will be very pleased that we did not support a position whereby the minister has the discretion to determine an application for compensation on the basis of whether there were insufficient grounds for the Chief Health Officer to take an action or make a direction. That could create very significant problems for a health minister, particularly in an environment where the opposition has been clearly advocating on behalf of some particular stakeholders in relation to some of the directions that the Chief Health Officer has made. They will be between a rock and a hard place if Mrs Dunne’s amendment gets up and the Liberals win in October. They can take the opportunity now to oppose this, but if they win the election in October they will be very glad if Mrs Dunne’s amendment does not get up and this bill is passed.
Question put:
That the amendment be agreed to.
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