[Peetwo]

Part I - Degrees of separation through delegation

The following video segment (besides being highly entertaining in parts), from the 08 February RRAT Senate Estimates, IMO highlights perfectly the problem with Governments (for purely political reasons), delegating governance & oversight, mostly through tick-n-flick processes to the bureaucrats... :

The lead up to that segment can be viewed in Hansard - Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee - 08/02/2016 - Estimates - INFRASTRUCTURE AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT PORTFOLIO - Infrastructure Australia.

The segment starts from here:

Senator CONROY: I wanted to talk around some issues around the MV Portland licence. Has the department prepared guidance for the minister's delegate that is designed to assist in how he or she should have regard to the object of the act in deciding application for a temporary licence under section 34(2)(f)?


Mr Sutton : We do not have any explicit documentation in that regard, but it is certainly a key factor that we take into account when assessing temporary licence applications.

Senator CONROY: Who is the minister's delegate in this case?

Mr Sutton : Formally, the delegate can be an SES officer in STP division, the executive director and the deputy secretary. It is generally the general manager of the Maritime and Shipping Branch, which makes decisions as the delegate.

Senator CONROY: You used the word 'generally'. Is that the person who made the decision around the MV Portland licence issue? If I was to say to please bring that gentleman to the desk, would you say yes, but it was not him?

Ms Zielke : The delegates for the coastal trading scheme are actually in front of you at the moment.

Senator CONROY: Mr Sutton managed to explain all of that without actually saying it is him. Were you the person?

Mr Sutton : They do change, but I can confirm that it was me that signed off on the temporary licence on 27 October.

Senator CONROY: Did you prepare any advice for yourself?
Mr Sutton : No.

Senator CONROY: What weighting would objects 3(a) to (d) be given, for example, in circumstances where the minister's delegate knows that the decision to grant a temporary licence will result in a general licenced vessel being withdrawn permanently from the Australian coast? I have those subclauses here.

Mr Sutton : Section 34 sets out the requirements of the act for when decisions are made on temporary licence applications. Key factors that are at play relate to—

Senator CONROY: Section 34 does not override the objects of the act, right? Nothing overrides the objects of the act.

Mr Sutton : No. In fact, section 34(2)(f) explicitly says that the object of the act is one of the factors that is taken into account in making a decision on a temporary licence. Key factors which are taken into account in all temporary licence applications are whether there has been a notice in response to the application and whether there have been written comments received from third parties in relation to an application. In relation to the application that you are talking about, there was neither a notice in response received or comments received from interested third parties...     

The conundrum of delegation through an Act of Parliament & the accompanying regulations, MOS etc. is one that is a common criticism of the Civil Aviation Act. The many cases of embuggerance through a CASA delegate or officer (FOI/AWI) are well documented and has been a major factor for the critical distrust of CASA by numerous industry stakeholders.

There is also another element/concern with governments delegating their responsibility for governance to bureaucrats and that is in the area of accountability. Again we have another recent example where this is visible.

The following is copied from page 48 of the recently released ATSB Supp Estimates AQON - 08ATSB.pdf:



Maybe it is my personal prejudice but if I was the Minister responsible I am damn sure I would not want Dolan as my delegate, signing off on my behalf with a multi-million dollar contract -



MTF...P2