Public Sector (Ministerial Travel Reports) Amendment Bill

Final Stages

The House of Assembly agreed to the bill with the amendments indicated by the following schedule, to which amendments the House of Assembly desires the concurrence of the Legislative Council:

Amendment No 1 -Clause 3, page 2, line 12 Delete 'Ministerial' and substitute:

certain official

Amendment No 2 -Clause 3, page 2, lines 14 and 15 Delete 'Minister in their Ministerial' and substitute:

prescribed person in their official

Amendment No 3 -Clause 3, page 2, line 18 Delete 'Minister' and substitute:

prescribed person

Amendment No 4 -Clause 3, page 2, line 19 Delete 'Minister' and substitute:

prescribed person

Amendment No 5 -Clause 3, page 2, line 20 Delete 'Minister's' and substitute:

prescribed person's

Amendment No 6 -Clause 3, page 2, line 23 Delete 'Minister' and substitute:

prescribed person

Amendment No 7 -Clause 3, page 2, after line 24 Insert:

(1) In this section—

prescribed person means—

(a) each Minister of the Crown; and

(b) the Leader of the Opposition in the House of Assembly; and

(c) the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council; and

(d) the Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the House of Assembly; and

(e) the Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council.

Amendment No 8 -Clause 3, page 3, line 1 Delete 'Ministers to report on Ministerial' and substitute:

Prescribed persons to report on certain official

Amendment No 9 -Clause 3, page 3, line 2 Delete 'Each' and substitute:

Subject to this section, each

Amendment No 10 -Clause 3, page 3, line 2 Delete 'Minister' and substitute:

prescribed person

Amendment No 11 -Clause 3, page 3, lines 2 and 3 Delete ', within 45 days of the conclusion of the travel,'

Amendment No 12 -Clause 3, page 3, line 6 Delete 'Minister' and substitute:

prescribed person

Amendment No 13 -Clause 3, page 3, lines 19 and 20 Delete 'accompanies a Minister undertaking the travel' and substitute:

travels with the prescribed person who is a Minister as part of the Minister's official travelling party

Amendment No 14 -Clause 3, page 4, lines 1 and 2 Delete 'the Minister is accompanied by a prescribed staff member' and substitute:

a prescribed staff member travels with the prescribed person who is a Minister as part of the Minister's official travelling party

Amendment No 15 -Clause 3, page 4, after line 20 Insert:

(1a) Subject to subsection (1b), a report must be prepared under this section within 45 days after the conclusion of the relevant travel.

(1b) If, in relation to a report of particular travel, a prescribed person does not have the information or documents necessary to provide all of the information required under subsection (1)(a)(iv), (1)(b)(iv) or (1)(c)(iii), a prescribed person who is the prescribed person must—

(a) nevertheless prepare a report under this section setting out such of the information required under subsection (1) as may be known to the prescribed person; and

(b) set out in the report an explanation of why the report is incomplete and a description of the outstanding information; and

(c) as soon as is reasonably practicable after the prescribed person receives the outstanding information or documents, prepare a supplementary report containing that information.

(1c) If, in relation to a report of particular travel, it is not reasonably practicable for the prescribed person to provide a breakdown of the costs in accordance with subsection (1)(a)(iv), (1)(b)(iv) or (1)(c)(iii), the prescribed person will be taken to have complied with those requirements if the prescribed person sets out in the report—

(a) the total cost of the travel; and

(b) a description of the costs incurred in the travel; and

(c) an explanation of why the costs could not reasonably be broken down in accordance with those requirements.

Amendment No 16 -Clause 3, page 4, line 21 Delete 'Minister' and substitute:

prescribed person

Amendment No 17 -Clause 3, page 4, line 22 After 'receipts' insert:

or invoices

Amendment No 18 -Clause 3, page 4, after line 23 Insert:

(2a) However, a prescribed person need not comply with subsection (2) in relation to a particular receipt or invoice, or particular class of receipts or invoices—

(a) if the receipt or invoice relates to a matter to be addressed in a supplementary report prepared under subsection (1b), in which case the prescribed person must instead cause a copy of the receipt or invoice to accompany the supplementary report; or

(b) if a receipt or invoice in respect of a particular cost is not able to be obtained by the prescribed person, or has been lost or destroyed, in which case the prescribed person must instead complete a declaration containing any information required by the regulations in relation to the cost and cause a copy of the declaration to accompany the report or supplementary report under this section (as the case requires).

(2b) If a prescribed person is of the opinion that to comply with subsection (2) or (2a) in relation to a particular receipt or invoice would create a risk to the health or safety of the prescribed person or any other person, or would amount to a security risk to the interests of the State (however described), the prescribed person may cause a redacted copy of the receipt or invoice to accompany the report or supplementary report (and in such a case the prescribed person will, to avoid doubt, be taken to have complied with the relevant subsection in respect of the receipt or invoice).

Amendment No 19 -Clause 3, page 4, line 26 Delete 'accompanies a Minister undertaking travel to which this Part applies' and substitute:

travels with a prescribed person who is a Minister undertaking travel to which this Part applies as part of the Minister's official travelling party

Amendment No 20 -Clause 3, page 4, line 29 Delete 'receipts' and substitute:

Documents

Amendment No 21—Clause 3, page 4, line 34 Delete 'Minister' and substitute:

prescribed person

Amendment No 22 -Clause 3, page 4, line 35 Delete 'report and accompanying receipts' and substitute:

report or supplementary report and accompanying documents

Amendment No 23—Clause 3, page 4, line 38 [clause 3, inserted section 12B(6), definition of prescribed staff member]—Delete 'Minister' and substitute:

prescribed person who is a Minister

Consideration in committee.

The Hon. S.L. GAME: I move:

That the House of Assembly's amendments be agreed to.

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS: I rise to indicate the Greens will support the amendments and the passage of the bill through the upper house, as we did previously. But I do wish to highlight for the chamber the breathtaking about-face of the government, who just moments ago opposed a very sensible proposal from the Hon. Frank Pangallo relating to the publication of ministerial diaries. They have allowed a very reasonable proposal from me that passed this chamber—a bill which they keep referencing as the Rolls-Royce model; it is a bill that has actually passed this chamber—that would bring South Australia into line with other jurisdictions, and they have not passed it.

I challenge the government in the new year, now that they have supported this and made it a priority—and obviously they have judged this on its merits; this is a proposal that is more meritorious, and the Hon. Sarah Game has been much more pleasant to deal with than me—and I urge the government, having made that decision, to fast-track the Greens bill for the publication of ministerial diaries in the new year to plug the gap that they are so concerned about.

They indicated they would not support the motion of the Hon. Frank Pangallo just minutes ago because it was a motion. There is a very good bill that has passed this chamber that they should prioritise in the new year. If they do not do so, then people will start to ask why. Why? They really have a lot of explaining to do in this regard, and they need to explain to the people of South Australia why they are letting one transparency measure languish while another has been fast-tracked. What is going on here?

The Hon. N.J. CENTOFANTI: I rise to indicate that we, the opposition, are happy to support these amendments because, unlike the Labor Party, we in the Liberal Party are happy for transparency and we are happy for accountability, because we do not have anything to hide.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: I rise to endorse the comments of the Hon. Robert Simms. It was remiss of me not to thank my Liberal colleagues as well for the support of my motion, so I thank them here. I rise to say that I am not a hypocrite and I will support these amendments, just as I supported the Public Sector (Ministerial Travel Reports) Amendment Bill when it went through this place, because I am a strong supporter of more honesty and accountability from governments.

I think that is the least the public would expect from members in this place. I think that is the path we should be following, and we should be endeavouring to set that standard all the way through, regardless of what members may have thought of the motion. I did not hear anyone on the Labor side saying that it had some merit in it; it was just, 'We don't like it. We don't want it.' In saying that, I thank members, and I will be supporting that.

Motion carried.