Lawder: Inadequate time to scrutinise Budget
Canberra Liberals MLA Nicole Lawder will chair the Select Committee on Estimates 2024-25, which examines the expenditure proposals in the Appropriation Bill 2024-25, the Appropriation (Office of the Legislative Assembly) Bill 2024-25, and any revenue estimates proposed by the government.
The other members of the Committee are Suzanne Orr (ACT Labor) and Laura Nuttall (ACT Greens).
Treasurer Andrew Barr will hand down the budget in the last week of June; estimates hearings begin on 6 August, and the report is due on the 16th – only 11 days (including weekends).
Ms Lawder said the reporting period was “ridiculous”. In previous 20 years, between the Treasurer handing down the Budget and the reporting date, the average was more than 50 days; in the last 10 days, more than 45 days; and in the last two years, more than 37 days. Indeed, Ms Lawder noted, the committee had in the past recommended four weeks between the close of hearing dates for estimates and the date the report was due. But in 11 days, the committee might not even have answers to Questions on Notice.
“How on earth the committee is going to produce a report in that time, I just do not understand,” Ms Lawder said. “You might accuse the government of trying to reduce scrutiny of the Budget by providing inadequate timeframes… It is a vital part of our democratic process, and that the government feels that they can come in and propose an 11-day period … is quite ludicrous, quite unrealistic…
“This is an abuse of the power of government, of Labor and the Greens colluding once again to reduce scrutiny, reduce accountability, and misuse their ability to direct the work of this Assembly by ignoring our democratic processes.”
Workplace health and safety
The ACT Government will strengthen work health and safety laws to better protect Canberra’s workers following a national agreement on model workplace safety.
The changes implement a nationally consistent and proportionate approach to sanctions for breaches of WHS duties and obligations, Mick Gentleman, ACT Minister for Industrial Relations and Workplace Safety, said.
The model penalty amount will be applied for industrial manslaughter offences of $18 million, and the rules for establishing corporate criminal liability strengthened.
The indexation of penalty levels within the WHS framework will ensure that penalties remain consistent with community expectations and an effective regulatory tool in addressing non-compliance and poor workplace safety practices.
The ACT’s portable long service leave schemes will begin on 1 April 2025, two years after the Legislative Assembly expanded them to the hairdressing, beauty services, accommodation, and food services industries.
The Canberra Business Chamber, however, believes the ACT Government should defer the expansion of portable long service leave, given the current economic climate.
“The reality is that small hospitality and services businesses are under immense pressure at the current time – and portable long service leave is effectively is an extra tax that will hit the payroll of these firms,” CEO Greg Harford said.
“We are expecting this to cost between 1-2 per cent of payroll, which is an enormous cost in a sector where net margins are generally very small.”
Corrective services
Criminal offenders who cannot complete community service hours because of circumstances beyond their control (such as severe weather) might have those hours credited.
Emma Davidson, Corrections and Justice Health Minister, said the proposed Crimes (Sentence Administration) Amendment Bill 2024 will ensure people who willingly show up for their community work orders are recognised for their rehabilitative efforts.
The bill caps the number of hours that can be credited at 10 per cent of the hours to be completed.
Debate was adjourned.
Public transport
Following the release of the Canberra Liberals’ public transport policy last week, shadow transport minister Mark Parton called on the government to adopt one of their ideas: capping weekly fares for adult MyWay cardholders to $25 to provide cost-of-living relief to Canberrans.
The motion, Mr Parton said, would “flush out which MLAs give a toss about the cost-of-living crisis, and which parties genuinely want to increase public transport patronage”. Many Canberrans, Mr Parton said, are struggling with high interest rates and inflationary pressures, and Canberra’s buses were some of the least-used in the nation. The weekly cost for an adult MyWay cardholder to commute on public transport five days a week is $32.20; and the average weekly cost of parking in Civic was more than $100.
Tara Cheyne, acting transport minister, negatived Mr Parton’s motion, but maintained that the government was determined to keep public transport affordable. Unlike other jurisdictions, the government had not increased public transport fares since January 2019, and they were the third lowest in the country. The government offered free or reduced cost services to vulnerable users.
Youth Week
ACT Youth Week, a 10-day celebration of young people aged 12 to 25 and their contributions to the community, runs from today to Sunday 21 April.
Across Canberra, the ACT Government supports activities including African drumming workshops, 12-hour theatre projects, festivals, and cons. (For more information, visit www.act.gov.au/our-canberra/latest-news/2024/april/celebrate-canberras-young-people-during-youth-week.)
More than 800 young people and their families have already registered to attend a free tour of the National Zoo and Aquarium, movie screening, or ice-skating.
Lily Harrison, ACT Youth Advisory Council chair, said Youth Week spotlights the concerns, needs and ideas of young Canberrans.
The ACT Government offers youth-related scholarships and grants, which can be applied for all year.
