The SPEAKER (3:37 PM) —Members will recall that on 23 October 2002 I tabled a report entitled Review by the Parliamentary Service Commissioner of aspects of the administration of the parliament. The review, conducted by Mr Andrew Podger, the Parliamentary Service Commissioner, was commissioned by the former President of the Senate and me in April this year to review the administration of security within Parliament House and to examine other aspects of the administration of the parliament with a view to greater cost effectiveness and practicability. In presenting the report, I invited comments from members, parliamentary staff and other interested parties. For his part, the President extended the same invitation when tabling the report in the Senate. Some 19 submissions have been received in response, mainly from staff of the parliamentary departments. The President and I have, as I reported to the House on 11 November 2002, confirmed earlier decisions in relation to security at Parliament House, including establishing the Security Management Board as a permanent body and strengthening the access control arrangements. We have also centralised the security function in the Joint House Department, as recommended in the Podger review, and are progressively implementing other measures in accordance with the immediate and longer term plans we have approved on the recommendations of the board.

In inviting comment on the report on 23 October 2002, I indicated to the House that the President and I would consider at the end of November the remaining recommendations made by Mr Podger. These range from the creation of a shared services centre, providing services to the five parliamentary departments, to a more extensive restructuring which entails the amalgamation of the three service departments—the option strongly preferred by Mr Podger. I am advised that the Senate, having endorsed our decision in relation to security, is now awaiting a committee examination of the remaining Podger recommendations early in the next period of sittings in February 2003. Until this is completed, the President and I are unable to move forward jointly in respect of the proposals. I am conscious that there is a large degree of uncertainty among staff of parliamentary departments about the impact of possible structural changes. I regret that it is not possible to address these issues before the end of the parliamentary year, but it is necessary that the Senate's processes be followed before the President and I can jointly consider proposals for the structural reform of parliamentary administration, which we may put before our respective houses for consideration.

I take this opportunity to indicate to the House that in my view the remaining Podger recommendations merit the close attention of all members. They go to issues of the reform of the administrative structure of the parliament to an extent recommended many times in the past by both sides of politics but never successfully implemented. These reforms now come at the recommendation of the independent Parliamentary Service Commissioner. Mr Podger's report invites us to consider adopting within the parliament similar broad-ranging public sector reforms to those that have been implemented across Commonwealth and state instrumentalities, under both sides of politics, over the past 20 years. The report challenges us, as parliamentarians, to hold our own administration to the same standards of structural efficiency, transparency and accountability which we demand in our oversight of government agencies. I will report to the House on these matters early in the autumn sittings next year. In the meantime, I again commend the Podger report to all members for their close attention and consideration.