Questions – Premier’s Economic and Social Recovery Advisory Council

June 3, 2020

PESRAC Member Affiliations Questions    

Recognising the need to maintain public confidence in Tasmania’s transparency and accountability mechanisms during the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis, will the Government please confirm whether any member of the Premier’s Economic and Social Recovery Advisory Council, as announced on 30 April 2020, has:

QUESTION (1a) Made a personal financial or in kind donation to a registered political party and/or candidate for each of the financial years from 2016-17 to 2019-20; and

QUESTION (1b) if so, please provide the names of any identified recipients?

QUESTION (2a)  Represented, or held membership of, or was an employee of, any organisation or entity which made a financial or in kind donation to a registered political party and/or candidate for each of the financial years from 2016-17 to 2019-20; and

QUESTION (2b)  if so, please provide the details of both donor entity and recipients?

QUESTION (3a) Ever been a registered lobbyist, member and/or employee of a registered lobbyist organisation, on either the Australian Government Register of Lobbyists or the Tasmanian Register of Lobbyists; and

QUESTION (3b)   if so please provide details?

QUESTION (4a) Been involved in any business and/or corporate interests which have successfully tendered for any Tasmanian state tenders, grants, commissions, and/or received any other public funding for each of the financial years from 2016-17 to 2019-20; and

QUESTION (4b) if so, please provide the contract and funding amount details?

ANSWER

The personal affairs of the Council members in relation to their support or otherwise for registered political parties or candidates is not known to the Government, and is a private matter for the members.

Council members were invited by the Premier to participate in the Council as a community service, and they are not being remunerated for their service. There is no context of any of the members being appointed as a reward for supporting the Government.

The members were approached because of their highly appropriate and wide-ranging backgrounds in business and in the social sectors. They are prominent and well-known Tasmanians. They have been appointed in their personal capacity,  not  in any representative capacity, because of the experiences and networks they bring to the challenge of identifying potential recovery mechanisms.

In the context of Tasmania and the reach of Government, most if not all members of the Council will have had some form of financial linkage with Government over the period nominated – either directly through salary, through  the  organisation  that  they  have worked for having financial relationships with the Government,  other  remunerated positions linked to Government, their business having  contracts  with  Government agencies, or entities with which they are otherwise associated having financial linkages to Government.

The Council is providing recommendations to the Premier for his and Cabinet’s consideration. They are not making any decisions in relation to recovery mechanisms or initiatives – the Council’s task is purely advisory.

Finally, the Council has implemented measures to deal with conflicts that are fit-for­ purpose in the context of the Council’s advisory role.

PESRAC Conflict of Interest Questions    

With regard to the Premier’s Economic and Social Recovery Advisory Council (PESRAC) announced on 30 April 2020, and noting that the National COVID-19 Coordination Commission (NCCC) Chair, Mr Neville Power, stepped aside as Deputy Chairman of the gas company Strike Energy due to perceived conflict of interest concerns:—

QUESTION (1a)   Does the Government have in place a transparent accountability framework for the identification, management and public disclosure of any potential conflicts of interest issues which may arise for both PESRAC members and any advisory staff; and

QUESTION (1b)     if so, are the details of this accountability framework publicly available?

ANSWER (1a & b) In  relation  to  the  staff  made available to  form the Secretariat for the  Council, these are public sector employees, and as such are subject to all of the usual governance arrangements, including the State Service Act and the Code of Conduct, which provide a framework for managing conflicts of interest.

In relation to the members of PESRAC, procedures for managing conflicts of interest framework have been agreed by the Council at its first meeting on 5 May 2020 and implemented with effect from that date. These include:

Declarations of interests

A register of interests has been prepared and completed by each member, which requires members to register:

      • entities of which members are a director;
      • entities of which members are an employee;
      • entities of which members have a major shareholding interest;
      • if members operate a consulting business, the nature of the client base and work undertaken; and
      • entities to which members owe a non-remunerated interest that may be relevant to the Council’s work

Conflicts arising from the work program

The Council has agreed that prior to the circulation of papers for each meeting, the Chair will communicate the Agenda to Council members, with a brief outline of the content of each item. Any member identifying a potential conflict with the agenda item is to raise the nature of the conflict with the Chair, and consideration will then be given to the nature of any involvement of the member in that agenda item.

Depending on the nature of the matters being considered, managing that conflict might require that the member not be provided relevant papers,  and  will  absent  themselves from that agenda item  during  the  meeting.  Alternatively, the  appropriate  treatment might require the member to have  a  modified/redacted form  of  a  relevant  paper provided to the full Council (eg. if there was sensitive information contained within it).

Identified conflicts, and the strategies to deal with them, will be recorded by the Secretariat and form part of the records of the Council.

Given the work program of the Council to date, the matters covered  in  Agenda discussions have been very broad and have not been of a nature that conflicts will arise

There is a standing item in the Agenda of each meeting for Management of Conflicts.

QUESTION (2)     Are there any instances since 30 April this year where PESRAC members have:

(a)     Stepped aside from corporate or other roles due to their PESRAC membership;

ANSWER 2(a) No members have stepped aside from other roles as a result of PESRAC membership.

(b)     declared any potential or perceived conflicts of interest in light of any matters arising during PESRAC related activities; and

(c)     if so, please provide details.

ANSWER 2(b & c) All members have completed their declarations of interest, and no conflict have thus-far arisen.

QUESTION (3)     Are mechanisms in place to protect the commercial interests and intellectual property of submissions received, recognising that PESRAC members may be connected to direct competitors of businesses and individuals making representations to PESRAC?

ANSWER (3) The conflicts arrangements implemented by the Council are  considered  sufficient  to deal with this issue. There have been no  intellectual  property  or  similar  issues arising from the consultation process to-date.  The  identity of  Council  members  is well  known and publicised, and if a participant in the process had concerns about making information available to the process, this can be dealt with by the Secretariat in a way that meets the concerns of the participant, or that material is simply not provided by the participant.

QUESTION (4)     What are the remuneration, financial and resourcing package arrangements for each PESRAC member?

ANSWER (4) The PESRAC members are fulfilling their roles on a community-service basis, and are not being remunerated. Costs of meeting participation will be reimbursed at the request of the member. No such requests have been made to-date.

QUESTION (5)     What are the estimates of operating costs for PESRAC’s support secretariat, including salaries of any seconded departmental or political appointment staffers to the secretariat or to PESRAC members?

ANSWER (5) There are no political appointments to the Secretariat. The Secretariat is effectively a medium-term interoperability model. The team comprises staff made available from the following departments:

      • Treasury (3 staff);
      • Premier and Cabinet (2 staff);
      • State Growth (2 staff); and
      • Primary Industries, Water and Environment (I staff)

All staff have retained their pre-existing remuneration levels and arrangements.

No additional funding has been made available to any agency to support the work of the Council/Secretariat – costs are met from existing Agency appropriations.

PESRAC Tasmanian Children’s Commissioner Questions    

With regard to the Tasmanian Children’s Commissioner serving on the Premier’s Economic and Social Recovery Advisory Council (PESRAC), as announced on 30 April 2020:—

QUESTION (1a)  Has the Government received advice regarding the capacity for the Tasmanian Children’s Commissioner to meet all responsibilities, obligations and terms of appointment, as an independent statutory officer under the Commissioner for Children and Young People Act 2016 while also serving as a PESRAC member; and

QUESTION (1b)    if so, what are the details?

ANSWER (1a) Yes

ANSWER (1b) Leanne McLean is appointed in her personal capacity to the Premier’s Economic and Social Recovery Advisory Council (PESRAC). There were no legal concerns identified regarding her capacity to meet her responsibilities as the Children’s Commissioner and her terms of appointment as an independent statutory officer under the Commissioner for Children and Young People Act 2016 while also serving as a PESRAC member, noting that no member on PESRAC receives payment for their role on PESRAC.

QUESTION (2)    What are the details of the intended full-time equivalent (FTE) schedule the Children’s Commissioner will be expected to fulfil as a PESRAC member?

ANSWER (2) It is not possible to identify the time commitment in the context of a full-time equivalent schedule, however the current commitment is as follows:

For the first phase of the Council’s work. (leading up to end June), the Council is meeting weekly, typically for 2 hour blocks during business hours. The current arrangements see PESRAC considering meeting papers over weekends, rather than in ‘business hours’.

The meeting schedule post the first report has  yet to  be agreed, but it is expected to be weekly through July and August, leading to the interim report at the end of August.

Arrangements in September and through to the final report (date to be determined) have not been contemplated yet.

QUESTION (3a)   Have amendments been made to the Children’s Commissioner’s contractual arrangements in light of additional membership on PESRAC; and

QUESTION (3b)   if so, what are the details?

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