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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-05-11 Daily Xml
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SOUTH AUSTRALIAN BUSHFIRE PREVENTION ADVISORY COMMITTEE

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE (15:24): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for the Status of Women a question about members of the state bushfire prevention committee.

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE: I understand that the state bushfire committee—a committee that the government has said to be a very important, high profile committee and one that must get on with the job—is yet to be properly constituted and set up. Advice given to me is that the minister has indicated that she has concerns about the gender balance with respect to this committee.

Whilst we acknowledge and support that there should be gender balance wherever possible, the fact is that this gets back to who is most relevant to be able to make these decisions. I am advised that, if this committee is not set up officially and gets to work immediately, we will have major problems in the coming bushfire season, particularly with respect to the regional bushfire committees, which are a subset of the state bushfire committee. Has the minister prevented this committee from being set up to this point through argument in cabinet or other places about gender balance? If that is the case, when does the minister see the committee's composition being finalised so that we can get on with protecting the state from the point of view of bushfire?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for State/Local Government Relations, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Government Enterprises, Minister for the City of Adelaide) (15:26): The answer to the honourable member's question whether I have prevented it is that I certainly have not. That is very easily answered. No. However, it was drawn to my attention that they were having trouble with their gender balance in terms of filling the board. I merely asked whether the Premier's Women's Directory had been consulted to assist in the compilation of that board, and I was informed that, no, it had not.

We have this directory, which has more than 700 board-ready women. It is there to assist organisations in their selection of women and to assist in the gender complement of all boards and committees. In fact, my office provided assistance in accessing that directory, and I think that, within 24 hours, or very close to, we provided a list of a number of potentially suitable women. We sent that list back to both the minister and to Mr Euan Ferguson to assist them in their selection.

As I said, I responded extremely quickly to that. I had my office assist, and I believe that it would be within about 24 hours that they received that advice. So, 24 hours, and to be suggesting that these considerations were somehow holding up the selection of this committee is absolutely outrageous. I use this opportunity, in terms of the compilation of government boards and committees, to remind those NGOs and other organisations that are putting forward nominations to government boards that they are required for each nomination to put at least one male and one female forward as a nominee for that position. The Acts Interpretation Act requires that.

I believe that a number of organisations that submitted nominations to this committee failed in their obligation relating to that act. They failed to submit for each of their nominations to which they were entitled at least one male and one female nomination. They have statutory responsibilities just like everyone else. As I said, I take this opportunity to remind organisations that they are required to do that.

I have a note in front of me that it wasn't 24 hours; it was slightly more than that. For the sake of Hansard, I point out that it would not have been more than that but I am happy to find out the exact number of hours and to return with that. It was a very rapid response. To be suggesting that somehow these considerations were holding up the shaping of this committee is outrageous.

Gender representation is very important, not just on boards and committees, but right throughout society. Not just gender but ethnic background, people with disabilities—it is most important that we have broad representation within our community. It makes our organisation stronger, it makes our policy and decision-making stronger and more inclusive, and I believe it makes our world a better place to live in.

It is a very important principle that we uphold. I commend those organisations that put female nominations forward. There were plenty of alternatives we found with significant backgrounds in relevant areas, so to suggest that there are no women out there who could be put forward based on merit, again is offensive and outrageous. There are plenty of talented and competent women out there. It is simply a matter of making the effort to encourage them to nominate.

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