00:00There's been very little communication but for a proposed meeting that was indefinitely
00:08postponed.
00:10Now I think we've all come to realise over the last 23 days that we're all governed by
00:13the rule of law and if you want to dismantle a functioning and effective inquiry, you have
00:18to comply with the law.
00:20And as it stands, the Path to Treaty Act is the law, and under the Path to Treaty Act
00:24myself and other members, we have certain responsibilities, our duties and functions.
00:30And given the inability of the government to be able to move swiftly, we've decided
00:34to recommence the work of the inquiry.
00:38There will be some limitations to that.
00:40The plan going forward is obviously to open our submissions portal, and that is open today.
00:46Our submissions portal will be open at least until early January at this stage, and at
00:51the end of that juncture we're proposing to produce a report.
00:55It is obvious that the inquiry will not get the opportunity to run out its statutory term
01:01of three years, but nevertheless it's likely to be now several months before the government
01:06can actually do something about repealing that legislation.
01:10I also have responsibilities under the Path to Treaty Act for the efficient and effective
01:15use of those resources that the inquiry has.
01:18Those resources include our staff, which are provided to support the inquiry by the
01:22department.
01:24Taking those things into consideration, I think it's important that we utilise our
01:27resources effectively over the next coming months, and as I say, the staff will be focused
01:32on engaging with key organisations, institutions, working through the submissions, and then
01:38producing a report which, under the Act, has to be provided to the Minister and will be
01:43tabled in Parliament.
Comments