Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources) Share this | Hansard source

Obviously, the operating mandate is the key vehicle where the government will set out its expectations for the corporation. Whilst the express exemption exists for directions from ministers to corporate Commonwealth entities, the bill provides that the operating mandate is a legislative instrument and must be tabled in the parliament. This gives the parliament a level of oversight. Given the nature and the significance of the potential directions, that is fair and reasonable. It is not proposed for it to be a disallowable instrument. We believe that this is appropriate as it deals with matters over which the executive should retain control. As I said to Senator Brown yesterday when we were discussing the structure of this proposed organisation, the set-up of the RIC is almost a direct replica of the way the Clean Energy Finance Corporation was set up and currently operates in this space. Quite clearly, the mandate of the CEFC is required to be tabled in the parliament, but it is not a disallowable instrument.