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Motion · 4 February 2025

Lobbying in the ACT: Proposed inquiry

Wording in the final text came from Andrew BraddockGreens · Crossbench (1)

In short

Proposed
Leanne Castley brought this motion on 4 February 2025.
Changed
1 change proposed by Andrew Braddock; 1 agreed.
Decided
Agreed as changed. No individual votes were recorded, so this doesn't show who supported it.
Final wording
Compared with the original, 54 words taken out and 230 words put in. See every difference
  1. What was proposedLeanne CastleyLiberal · Opposition
    Read the original wording (250 words)

    That this Assembly: (1) notes: (a) public confidence in the ACT Government hinges on a community belief that the Government and the Assembly are acting with integrity, honesty, and fairness; (b) the Integrity Commissioner has told the Assembly that he believes there is a need for a Commission inquiry into lobbying in the ACT, and requested financial support from the Government, which was not agreed; (c) the Chief Minister subsequently told The Canberra Times he would “give serious consideration to any request” from the Commission for resourcing to undertake the inquiry and that “I think there is a pathway forward on that”; (d) the Assembly unanimously supported a motion moved by Ms Castley calling for the Government to provide the Commission with “sufficient funding to investigate potential integrity, misconduct and corruption issues in a timely manner”; and (e) no additional funding has been provided to date, and members of the Government have not had discussions with the Commission about any additional funding; and (2) calls on the Chief Minister to: (a) support the Integrity Commission in holding an inquiry into lobbying in the ACT; (b) provide additional resourcing so the Integrity Commission can initiate the inquiry in the first half of 2025 without adversely impacting the Commission’s other tasks and priorities; (c) fully cooperate with the inquiry in whatever form is required, including the full participation of ministers, executive staff, and ACT Public Service officials; and (d) commit to tabling a formal response to the inquiry within eight weeks of receiving its final report.

  2. Proposed changeAndrew BraddockGreens · Crossbench4 February 2025

    Grouped by key words as: rewrote the proposal, added reporting or consultation, turned an action into a review, added conditions.

    The exact wording of this change

    Omit all text after paragraph (1)(a), substitute: “(b) continuing resolution 8AC defines a lobbyist as ‘any person, company or organisation who conducts lobbying activities on behalf of a third party, or whose employees or other personnel conduct lobbying activities on behalf of a third party, where such lobbying activities are ordinarily carried out in the expectation of receiving direct or indirect financial reward or other valuable consideration whether or not the amount thereof is ascertainable at the time such activities are conducted.’; (c) this definition places lobbying by an entity on behalf of itself outside of the scope of the ACT’s lobbying regulations, presenting potentially significant gaps which should be of interest to any lobbying inquiry; (d) the Integrity Commissioner has told the Assembly that he believes there is a need for a Commission inquiry into lobbying in the ACT, and requested financial support from the Government, which was not agreed; (e) Mr Barr subsequently told The Canberra Times he would ‘give serious consideration to any request’ from the Commission for resourcing to undertake the inquiry and that ‘I think there is a pathway forward on that’; (f) under the Integrity Commission Act and other Territory laws, the Commission has complete discretion in the exercise of the Commission’s functions; (g) the Assembly unanimously supported a motion moved by Ms Castley calling for the Government to provide the Commission with ‘sufficient funding to investigate potential integrity, misconduct and corruption issues in a timely manner’; and (h) no additional funding has been provided to date; (2) calls on all Members of the Legislative Assembly to: (a) support the Integrity Commission in holding a suitable inquiry into lobbying in the ACT; and (b) fully cooperate with the inquiry in whatever form is required, including the full participation of Ministers, MLAs, executive and non-executive staff, and ACT Public Service officials; (3) further calls on the Government to: (a) provide additional resourcing so the Integrity Commission could as appropriate initiate a suitable inquiry, ideally during 2025, without adversely impacting the Commission’s other tasks and priorities; and (b) commit to tabling a formal response to the inquiry within eight weeks of receiving its final report; and (4) calls on the Speaker to refer a copy of this resolution to the Integrity Commissioner, so as to show the Assembly’s support for a suitable inquiry into lobbying in the ACT in accordance with terms of reference that the Integrity Commissioner may establish at his discretion.”. Debate continued.

    Agreed on the voices. No individual votes were recorded. Its wording is in the final text.

  3. What the Assembly decidedAgreed

    Decided on the voices: no individual votes were recorded, so this doesn’t show that every MLA agreed.

    Final agreed wording, with changes marked

    That this Assembly: (1) notes: (a) public confidence in the ACT Government hinges on a community belief that the Government and the Assembly are acting with integrity, honesty, and fairness; (b) continuing resolution 8AC defines a lobbyist as ‘any person, company or organisation who conducts lobbying activities on behalf of a third party, or whose employees or other personnel conduct lobbying activities on behalf of a third party, where such lobbying activities are ordinarily carried out in the expectation of receiving direct or indirect financial reward or other valuable consideration whether or not the amount thereof is ascertainable at the time such activities are conducted.’; (c) this definition places lobbying by an entity on behalf of itself outside of the scope of the ACT’s lobbying regulations, presenting potentially significant gaps which should be of interest to any lobbying inquiry; (d) the Integrity Commissioner has told the Assembly that he believes there is a need for a Commission inquiry into lobbying in the ACT, and requested financial support from the Government, which was not agreed; (e) Mr Barr subsequently told The Canberra Times he would ‘give serious consideration to any request’ from the Commission for resourcing to undertake the inquiry and that ‘I think there is a pathway forward on that’; (f) under the Integrity Commission Act and other Territory laws, the Commission has complete discretion in the exercise of the Commission’s functions; (g) the Assembly unanimously supported a motion moved by Ms Castley calling for the Government to provide the Commission with ‘sufficient funding to investigate potential integrity, misconduct and corruption issues in a timely manner’; and (h) no additional funding has been provided to date; (2) calls on all Members of the Legislative Assembly to: (a) support the Integrity Commission in holding a suitable inquiry into lobbying in the ACT; and (b) fully cooperate with the inquiry in whatever form is required, including the full participation of Ministers, MLAs, executive and non-executive staff, and ACT Public Service officials; (3) further calls on the Government to: (a) provide additional resourcing so the Integrity Commission could as appropriate initiate a suitable inquiry, ideally during 2025, without adversely impacting the Commission’s other tasks and priorities; and (b) commit to tabling a formal response to the inquiry within eight weeks of receiving its final report; and (4) calls on the Speaker to refer a copy of this resolution to the Integrity Commissioner, so as to show the Assembly’s support for a suitable inquiry into lobbying in the ACT in accordance with terms of reference that the Integrity Commissioner may establish at his discretionBraddock.

    Original and final wording compared

    That this Assembly: (1) notes: (a) public confidence in the ACT Government hinges on a community belief that the Government and the Assembly are acting with integrity, honesty, and fairness; (b) [put in: continuing resolution 8AC defines a lobbyist as ‘any person, company or organisation who conducts lobbying activities on behalf of a third party, or whose employees or other personnel conduct lobbying activities on behalf of a third party, where such lobbying activities are ordinarily carried out in]the [put in: expectation of receiving direct or indirect financial reward or other valuable consideration whether or not the amount thereof is ascertainable at the time such activities are conducted.’; (c) this definition places lobbying by an entity on behalf of itself outside of the scope of the ACT’s lobbying regulations, presenting potentially significant gaps which should be of interest to any lobbying inquiry; (d) the]Integrity Commissioner has told the Assembly that he believes there is a need for a Commission inquiry into lobbying in the ACT, and requested financial support from the Government, which was not agreed; [taken out: (c) the Chief Minister][put in: (e) Mr Barr]subsequently told The Canberra Times he would ‘give serious consideration to any request’ from the Commission for resourcing to undertake the inquiry and that ‘I think there is a pathway forward on that’; [taken out: (d)][put in: (f) under]the [put in: Integrity Commission Act and other Territory laws, the Commission has complete discretion in the exercise of the Commission’s functions; (g) the]Assembly unanimously supported a motion moved by Ms Castley calling for the Government to provide the Commission with ‘sufficient funding to investigate potential integrity, misconduct and corruption issues in a timely manner’; and [taken out: (e)][put in: (h)]no additional funding has been provided to date; [taken out: and members of the Government have not had discussions with the Commission about any additional funding; and](2) calls on [put in: all Members of]the [taken out: Chief Minister][put in: Legislative Assembly]to: (a) support the Integrity Commission in holding [taken out: an][put in: a suitable]inquiry into lobbying in the ACT; [taken out: (b) provide additional resourcing so the Integrity Commission can initiate the inquiry in the first half of 2025 without adversely impacting the Commission’s other tasks]and [taken out: priorities; (c)][put in: (b)]fully cooperate with the inquiry in whatever form is required, including the full participation of Ministers, [put in: MLAs,]executive [put in: and non-executive]staff, and ACT Public Service officials; [put in: (3) further calls on the Government to: (a) provide additional resourcing so the Integrity Commission could as appropriate initiate a suitable inquiry, ideally during 2025, without adversely impacting the Commission’s other tasks]and [taken out: (d)][put in: priorities; and (b)]commit to tabling a formal response to the inquiry within eight weeks of receiving its final report; [put in: and (4) calls on the Speaker to refer a copy of this resolution to the Integrity Commissioner, so as to show the Assembly’s support for a suitable inquiry into lobbying in the ACT in accordance with terms of reference that the Integrity Commissioner may establish at his discretion.]

    Compared word by word by computer, ignoring punctuation. It shows what differs, not which change made each difference; the steps above show that.

Check the official record

  • Minutes of Proceedings No 5, 4 February 2025, item 22

Find these on the Assembly’s chamber documents page. Wording is quoted from the Minutes, © ACT Legislative Assembly, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Our reading is automatic and may contain errors; agreeing to a motion is not the same as doing what it asks. Report a problem

Lobbying in the ACT: Proposed inquiry · Public Matter