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 < Back "Cooling Off" Slick Not Substantial February 12th 2003 - NSW Democrat Leader, Dr Arthur Chesterfield-Evans, has described the Premier's announcement to consider introducing " guideline cooling-off periods" for former Ministers lobby for the private sector as "slick, but not substantial." Bob Carr yesterday announced that he would consider developing such guidelines after revelations that the Minister for Gaming and Racing, Richard Face, was starting a consultancy for the liquor and gaming industries after the March election. "The announcement does nothing to stop people profiting once they have left the public payroll. All the Premiere has to do is follow existing Democrat legislation in the Senate!" Dr Chesterfield-Evans said. "Mr Carr should take a lead from the Democrats and introduce legislation similar to that of Democrat Senator Andrew Murray's Minister of State (Post-Retirement Employment Restrictions) bill 2002 that is currently in the Senate. The objective of the Democrats bill is to ensure that Ministers and ministerial advisers won't act in a manner that would be taking an 'improper advantage' or exploiting their insider knowledge and 'privileged access' to Government decision makers for their own material benefit. "Under the Democrats proposed legislation a former Minister or Ministerial advisor would have a cooling off period of 2 years before they could receive payment for any lobbying work related to their former portfolios, unless it is for a charity or a not-for-profit Non-Government Organisation. "So once again, a precedent has been set by the Democrats when it comes to Open Government! "The Democrats intend to draft and introduce similar legislation for N.S.W. after the State election, so lets hope Bob Carr will still support it, he concluded. |
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updated:
August 14, 2003
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