Patrick Gorman (Perth, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

Just for the information of members of the House, the government won't be supporting this amendment. I just want to outline both how we expect the board to operate and the responsibilities which board members will have. The board will be appointed by the responsible minister. In making that appointment, the minister must be the satisfied board members collectively have the appropriate balance of expertise and experience in fields relevant to the functions of the authority. It's very clear in the bill, setting out some very direct expectations in those appointments. Two members must have experience in the work of trade unions or representation of working people. Two members must have experience in business, industry, finance or investment. We've also very clearly outlined the other expectations of what the minister would need to consider in making those appointments, having regard for experience in things such as industrial relations, labour market adjustment, economics, greenhouse gas emissions reduction pathways, technology or policy expertise, climate change policy, energy markets, regional development, First Nations engagement, advocacy work, community leadership, public or corporate governance and/or the law. These board members are expected to make a serious commitment to the Net Zero Economy Authority. Their appointments are to be part time. They are not full-time statutory office holders. They're put up for five years and are eligible for reappointment.

I want to note in these debates when we're talking about the appointment of board members of a statutory authority such as the one we are seeking to legislate it's important that there are very clear legal obligations on any board member that is appointed, including that they must declare and manage all conflicts of interest. That's an essential part of the appointment process. In doing their duties, they must act in the best interests of the authority and not in the interests of any other organisation. They must recuse themselves from decision-making where they face conflicts.

The role of the board is in determining the broader policies and strategies of the authority. It is a governing board and it's been clearly outlined as such, meaning it has responsibility for the authority's strategy, governance and performance, including financial performance and spending of public money. In addition, it has some very clear responsibilities under the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act, which again places very high expectations on anyone who takes on a role on a government statutory board such as this, including promoting the purpose of the entity and defining strategy, ensuring systems and policies for the proper use of public resources, systems performance measurement, reporting and accountability, systems and policies for risk management and internal controls and establishing a committee.

The board also has the role of recommending CEO candidates for appointment by the minister. The reason I raise that in terms of the power of the board is to also talk about how, when it comes to CEO appointments, the provisions of the bill are supported by the merit and transparency policy which has been in place for the Commonwealth since 2008. That policy does require a merit based and transparent process be used for the appointment of agency heads and will apply to the CEO position of the Net Zero Economy Authority. It puts out requirements and guidelines, including selection criteria, the requirement of advertising of the position and the use of the selection panel. Appointments that the minister makes are also bound by general government policies on board appointments as contained in the Cabinet Handbook,which is publicly available for anyone interested in the work of the cabinet or, indeed, this particular authority. It also includes a range of expectations around the diversity on boards.

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