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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2008-11-13 Daily Xml
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LOBBYING AND MINISTERIAL ACCOUNTABILITY BILL

Introduction and First Reading

The Hon. R.B. SUCH (Fisher) (10:53): Obtained leave and introduced a bill for an act to provide for the disclosure of lobbying of senior public officials; to make unlawful the holding and trading of certain property by serving ministers; to regulate the post ministerial employment of ministers and ministerial advisers; and for other purposes. Read a first time.

Second Reading

The Hon. R.B. SUCH (Fisher) (10:54): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

This bill is also a reintroduction, so I will be briefer than I was with the previous bill. As the title suggests, the bill requires disclosure of lobbying of senior public officials and puts constraints on what serving ministers can do as well as on the post ministerial employment of ministers and their advisers.

At the outset I would like to say that I believe South Australia has been blessed with having a fine record of honourable behaviour in the public service and amongst elected officials. That is not blowing our collective trumpets too much, and it is fair to say that South Australia has generally had a tradition of integrity, honesty and proper behaviour by our public servants as well as by our members of parliament. That is not to say that there have not been occasional indiscretions and inappropriate behaviour, but they are fairly rare.

So, members may ask why we need to introduce a bill to regulate lobbying and provide a register of activities. Well, no society, state or country will ever be immune from inappropriate behaviour by elected officials or public servants—and we are no exception in that regard. This bill sets out clear guidelines and defines what is lobbying, it tightens up the code of conduct, requires lobbyists to lodge returns, and provides for ministers to divest themselves of shares. It also restricts certain behaviour by former ministers and ministerial advisers when they cease to be in those positions. If elected and public officials are not doing anything untoward then they have nothing to fear; however, I believe we have to be very careful that we do not create a situation that makes it possible for people to behave in an inappropriate way. There are often multimillion dollar contracts, investments and so on involved.

I was pleased to see that the Treasurer has cautioned all ministers, and I guess all public officials, about their dealings with people who are in the business of selling public-private partnership arrangements, and so he should; but I think we need to go beyond a simple caution from the Treasurer. We need to have in place mechanisms which help ensure that people do not step over the line. I do not have a problem with people trying to influence the government in a legitimate way; that has happened since the beginning of time, and it will continue to happen. However, we must make sure that we have proper rules in place so that we get the behaviour we would expect from elected members, ministers and senior public officials.

I commend this bill to the house. I believe it is a step forward in ensuring that South Australia continues to have an enviable record in regard to a high standard of integrity and accountability in respect not only of members of parliament and ministers but also senior public servants.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. I.F. Evans.

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