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Ms NOREEN HAY: My question without notice is directed to the Premier. What is the latest information on changes to post-separation and secondary employment procedures for former Ministers and members of the New South Wales Parliament?
Mr SPEAKER: Order! I am sure that a number of people are interested in the Premier's reply.
Mr MORRIS IEMMA: In 2004 the Independent Commission Against Corruption [ICAC] identified a range of options to regulate the employment of Ministers once they leave office. The Government has carefully considered those options and, as a result, the ministerial code of conduct will be amended to impose new obligations on Ministers and former Ministers, balancing the risk of conflicts of interest and the right of former Ministers to earn a living after politics. The amendments to the ministerial code of conduct, which is based on the United Kingdom model, will provide that former Ministers must, during the first 12 months of leaving office, obtain written advice from the Parliamentary Ethics Adviser before accepting any employment or engagement, or providing services to third parties. This obligation will apply where the proposed employment relates to portfolio responsibilities held during the last two years of ministerial office. A similar obligation will apply to current Ministers who, while still in office, are planning post-separation employment or businesses.
The adviser will be required to express his view as to whether the acceptance of the position could give rise to a reasonable concern that the Minister's conduct while in office was influenced by the prospect of future employment or engagement, or that the Minister might make improper use of confidential information to which he or she had access. The ethics adviser may advise that a position should not be taken, or should be taken subject only to certain conditions. It will, of course, be a matter for former Ministers to decide whether or not they accept that advice, but if they accept the position regardless, the ethics adviser will forward his advice to the Presiding Officer of the relevant House.
A former Minister would be unlikely to run the risk of damaging his or her reputation by acting against the advice of the independent ethics adviser. Another key ICAC recommendation affecting public life in New South Wales concerns the secondary employment of members of Parliament. The ICAC was asked to advise on this issue after it was revealed that the former Leader of the Opposition had a paid consultancy for PricewaterhouseCoopers while he was a member of Parliament. Accordingly, the Government will propose amendments to the Constitution (Disclosure by Members) Regulation to strengthen the disclosure obligations on members who hold outside employment or engagements. The regulations will require members of Parliament to describe the services and activities to be undertaken. Members will also, in certain circumstances, be required to disclose details of the clients to whom the services are to be provided.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! The Deputy Leader of the Opposition will come to order.
Mr MORRIS IEMMA: In addition, members of Parliament will be required to update the register of members' interests every six months instead of every year. The Government will also introduce motions in each House to amend the members' code of conduct, requiring members to disclose at the start of a parliamentary debate the identity of any person by whom they are employed or engaged. It will also require disclosure of the identity of any client of any such person or any former client who benefited from a member's services within the previous two years.
This disclosure obligation will not apply if a member simply votes on a matter; it will apply only when he or she participates in a debate. If the member has already disclosed the information in the member's entry in the register of members' interests, he or she will not be required to make a further disclosure during the proceedings. The Government will also propose amendments to the members' codes of conduct to strengthen the prohibition on bribery in response to recommendations made by the former Legislative Assembly Standing Ethics Committee.
This will make it clear that bribery can occur when a member knowingly or improperly agrees to take action in Parliament in return for payment to a party. A third party might include a family member, a business associate, or a person with whom the member has a financial relationship. Amendments to the codes will also ensure that the ICAC is entitled to investigate any breach of the prohibition on bribery. These reforms will bring in a new standard of probity to public life in this State. They are not a judgment on the past. After all, Ministers and members from both sides of politics have operated under the current system for 150 years. Rather, this is a line in the sand—an appropriate new direction for this Parliament to take in the 150th anniversary of its existence, reinforcing, as it does, the confidence of the people who put us here in the first place.