Committee finds one breach of privilege following stop-work notice on ACT Legislative Assembly

The notice sparked a constitutional stand-off after Speaker Joy Burch said the notice represented a "grave threat to the privileges of the Assembly" as it cut across the separation of powers.

The workplace safety watchdog issued a notice to the Assembly in August after WorkSafe inspectors were unable to find a risk assessment for budget estimates. Hearings were delayed for one week due to the notice.

Inspectors attended the Assembly after Workplace Safety Minister Mick Gentleman's office contacted work health and safety commissioner Jacqueline Agius over the format of estimates hearings.

This came following a disagreement between Mr Gentleman and the select estimates committee about whether hearings should be conducted remotely, face-to-face or hybrid model with a combination of both.

A prohibition notice was first issued to the territory's parliament on August 12. This notice was rescinded on August 15 but a new notice was reissued to make it clear the notice only applied to budget estimates and not the entire Assembly.

An inquiry into the issuing of this notice found the first notice was a breach of the privileges of the Assembly. However, the committee decided against finding another breach for the second notice.

"The committee finds that the second WorkSafe ACT prohibition notice may have improperly interfered with the free exercise of the Assembly or a committee of its authority but, as a breach of privilege has been found on the first prohibition notice, the committee did not consider it necessary to make a further finding," the committee report said.

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The select privileges committee comprised the Liberals' Jeremy Hanson, the Greens' Jo Clay and Labor's Michael Pettersson. The committee came to a unanimous position on the report.

The committee also found Workplace Safety Minister Mick Gentleman did not breach parliamentary privilege.

Mr Gentleman was accused of using his position to "influence, suggest or pressure" WorkSafe ACT after his office wrote to Ms Agius to seek advice about the hearings.

But the committee did not make that finding. The committee said the email from Mr Gentleman's office was open to the "perception of intentionally influencing WorkSafe's actions".

"However, it did not, of itself, interfere with a committee and therefore is not a breach of privilege," the report said.

The committee "deliberately" chose to not find any individual in contempt of the Assembly.

"It [was] concluded that the actions were not taken with the intention of deliberately causing disruptions to the operations of the estimates committee," the report said.

But Greens member Jo Clay has criticised Mr Gentleman in a speech to the Assembly, saying he submitted incomplete records to the committee.

The Workplace Safety Minister said senior public servants had raised concerns with the format of the hearings and that is why he was prompted to write to the committee. Ms Clay said Mr Gentleman submitted no evidence or notes of these complaints.

Mr Gentleman also did not submit any notes from conversations with the work health and safety commissioner.

There had been a phone call prior to the issuing of the notice and there was also a phone call between the Minister and Ms Agius after the WorkSafe ACT office received a "significant threat" on the day after the notice was issued.

"The committee received a complete chronology and records from the workplace health and safety commissioner but the records received from the Minister were incomplete," Ms Clay said.

"The Minister did not provide any notes of the phone calls that we know took place with the with the workplace, health and safety commissioner or notes from the comments made by senior public servants who had complained about their safety.

"The Minister's office has advised that not records were provided because none were kept. No file note, no diary note, no email."

Ms Clay said ministers were in a position of great responsibility and they needed to keep records and make careful decisions.

The committee has made 10 recommendations, including that a memorandum-of-understanding is developed between WorkSafe and the Assembly.

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