An ACT Legislative Assembly committee will be reconvened to examine bills from the government and opposition to create Canberra's first anti-corruption and integrity commission.
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The Assembly voted in favour of setting up the committee after Chief Minister Andrew Barr proposed it, under pressure from Opposition leader Alistair Coe, after Mr Coe introduced the Opposition's bill on Wednesday.
Mr Coe introduced the bill based on the recommendations of a lengthy Select Committee inquiry to create the commission. It reported late last year, amid concerns the government would delay its own bill.
While the committee had recommended the commission be operating by the end of this year, the government instead delayed the start date until mid-2019, claiming the need for more time to draw up the legislation.
But Mr Coe's office had legislation drawn up and introduced in the Assembly in only four months, recommending it be referred to committee for examination, citing concerns about the government's delay.
That prompted Mr Barr to put the motion to also examine a forthcoming government bill in the committee's inquiry on Wednesday. It gained the backing of the Opposition and Greens members.
The committee will examine the government bill and "other related matters" — including the opposition bill — and report back to the Assembly by the end of October this year.
It remains unclear what impact the new inquiry would have on the government's existing timeline to implement the commission, after $2.1 million was allocated in the 2018-19 budget for the commission.
The committee will again be led by Greens leader Shane Rattenbury, who chaired the original inquiry. Labor MLAs Chris Steel and Bec Cody and Liberals MLAs Vicki Dunne and Elizabeth Lee will sit as committee members.
The government's bill is expected to be tabled in the Assembly in the next sitting week in August this year.
