TOWN OF CAMBRIDGE —
MINISTER FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT — SHOW-CAUSE NOTICE
795. Mr
W.R. MARMION to the Minister for Local Government:
I have a supplementary question. I thank
the minister for his response. In his response, he mentioned that he got advice
from his department. Will the minister table the advice that he relied upon
before he delivered a show-cause notice to the Town of Cambridge?
Mr D.A.
TEMPLEMAN replied:
Once again, let me remind members
that advice is sought, as is appropriate, from the department. The department, as we know, has been undertaking an inquiry. The
reason that the department initiates an authorised inquiry—it is an
authorised inquiry—is that it authorises the departmental officers to
access information to assist them in assessing the complaints and concerns that
might be raised by the public or elected members. I have to tell members that
in the case of the Town of Cambridge, and
other councils, some of those complaints come from the elected councillors
themselves. I highlight to members in this place that one of the councillors
concerned is now a former councillor of the Town of Cambridge; he resigned a month
or so ago. I urge the member to perhaps look at the letter and the comments
that the councillor made with regard to some of the reasons behind that. The
member might be interested to read some of
the comments that he made. He talks in his letter about the adversarial nature
of the decision-making and actions by the people who he, as an elected
member then, worked with. All these matters are to be assessed. The member
knows as well as others that —
Point of Order
Mr W.R.
MARMION: I am very happy with a yes or no answer. Will the minister
table the advice?
Mr D.A. TEMPLEMAN: Table the?
Mr W.R. Marmion: The advice.
Mr D.A.
TEMPLEMAN: There is currently an inquiry and there will be a report.
Mr W.R. MARMION: I just asked
for a yes or no answer and whether the minister would table the advice that he
received from the department.
The SPEAKER: Can you give a yes
or no?
Mr D.A. TEMPLEMAN: The advice
forms part of an authorised inquiry, which is yet —
Mr S.K. L'ESTRANGE:
This question specifically relates —
Mr D.A. TEMPLEMAN: And I am
answering it.
The SPEAKER: Hold on,
minister. Member, he is answering that. He said that it is part of a report. He
is just answering the question.
Mr S.K. L'ESTRANGE:
My point of order is that this question actually has nothing to do with the
authorised inquiry; it is to do with the suspension of the Town of Cambridge
and the advice the minister received for why he had to issue a show-cause notice
to suspend it.
The SPEAKER: Thank you,
member, but if you had listened, you would have heard him say, from what I can
gather, that it is part of the actual —
Mr D.A. TEMPLEMAN: I will
explain.
The SPEAKER: Yes or no,
minister.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Mr D.A. TEMPLEMAN: First of
all, the council was not suspended.
Mr S.K. L'Estrange:
It's a show-cause notice.
Mr D.A. TEMPLEMAN: Read the
letter, member. This is the problem; he does not read. I do not know on whose
behalf he is acting. I have heard a few things about one of the reasons why
this matter is particularly interesting, but I will not go into details.
The SPEAKER: Minister, this
is dragging on a bit. Can I have a yes or no?
Mr D.A. TEMPLEMAN: What I can
say is that in terms of transparency, there will be an authorised inquiry
report that will in fact be tabled in this Parliament. When that report is
tabled, a whole range of issues will be addressed, including findings and
recommendations, and that is when we will see all the information. It will be
tabled here, transparently, as is required under the act.