[no bill text published] NSW Ministers Must Report Meetings With Outside People Every Three Months

Independent Commission Against Corruption Amendment (Ministerial Diary Disclosure) Bill 2024

Opposition Bill

20 Jun 2024: This bill has lapsed and is no longer under discussion.

Legislative Assembly

Legislative Council

Assent

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Topics

cabinet office government accountability government oversight government transparency lobbying ministerial conduct ministerial meetings public disclosure

Introduced by: Gareth Ward (LIB)

Links to official parliament websites

Official page: progress through parliament

Official page: bill text and explanatory notes

Effects of this bill

If this bill passes, it means that:

Ministers and parliamentary secretaries must give a summary of their meetings with external people to the Secretary of the Cabinet Office every quarter.
The summary must be provided within one month after the quarter ends.
The summaries must list the purpose of each meeting, who attended, and whether those people were lobbyists or acting in another role.
The Secretary of the Cabinet Office must publish these meeting summaries on the Cabinet Office website.
Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries do not have to report meetings that are purely social, held overseas, or about personal, electorate, or party political matters.
Meetings are also exempt if there is an overriding public interest against disclosing them.

The Debate

What different members said when this bill was debated:

Matt Cross LIB

“Today I contribute to debate on the Independent Commission Against Corruption Amendment (Ministerial Diary Disclosure) Bill 2024. I welcome the people in the public gallery. I am glad they are here to witness this. When it comes to integrity, C.S. Lewis said it best: "Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no‑one is watching.”

Official source →

Liesl Tesch ALP

“I thank the member for Kiama for bringing the Independent Commission Against Corruption Amendment (Ministerial Diary Disclosure Bill) 2024 to the House. I reflect on a time when he and I had parallel diaries as both of us set off to the inaugural meeting of the Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities. Independent of each other, we both stopped in New York.”

Official source →

Anna Watson ALP

“I speak in debate on the Independent Commission Against Corruption Amendment (Ministerial Diary Disclosure) Bill 2024 and thank the member for Kiama for helping us to expose the hypocrisy on the Opposition side of the House. It is a wonder that the member for Kiama has any spare time to work on bills like this, considering his real job is the mayor of Shellharbour.”

Official source →

Greg Warren ALP

“I make a brief contribution to debate on the Independent Commission Against Corruption Amendment (Ministerial Diary Disclosure) Bill 2024. At the outset I reiterate my professional and personal view, and indeed commitment, to the level of credibility and integrity that members in this place should always have. The standard we walk past is the standard that we accept.”

Official source →

News articles and press releases

Independent Commission Against Corruption Amendment (Ministerial Diary Disclosure) Bill 2024

Mr GARETH WARD, Member for Kiama — 2024-03-14

I would have thought that any government that wants to ensure transparency and accountability would say, "We’re not doing anything wrong. We’ve got nothing to hide. Therefore, we’re happy to place in legislation, where it should be, the publication of ministerial diaries." Other jurisdictions have moved to do so. One of the things that came from ICAC’s Operation Eclipse inquiry was that such provisions need to be enshrined in legislation, because Premier’s memorandums can be changed unilaterally.