Community Alliance Party

The Community Alliance Party seeks to improve the administration of the ACT as well as strengthen the relationship with the Commonwealth Government. The Alliance will emphasise the role of the ACT as a municipal government, a self-governing territory, a city-state, and the national capital.

The ACT Government boasts of its expenditure on infrastructure and programs, but Government administration needs to refocus attention on improved outcomes for people, places and communities. The Alliance will work with the community, the Legislative Assembly, public servants, and the Commonwealth Government to improve processes for the administration of the national capital.

Cooperation with other governments

• The Alliance will work with the Commonwealth Government to actively engage it in the affairs of the ACT as appropriate. The residents of the ACT should not bear the financial burden of developing and maintaining the national capital alone.
• The Alliance will seek wherever possible to arrange regional alliances with nearby councils and state bodies to improve the range and quality of services provided by the ACT Government.

The legislature

• The Alliance will seek to increase the transparency and accountability of government by strengthening the role of the Assembly in government decision-making through increasing the role and power of Assembly committees.
• The Alliance will review the powers of the Chief Minister and the executive to open up decision-making to the entire Legislative Assembly.

The public service

• The Alliance will work with public servants and the wider community to maintain and enhance the impartiality and professionalism of the ACT public service.
• The Alliance will review working conditions to retain and attract public servants of the highest calibre.
• The Alliance will ask the Auditor General to review the success of the Shared Services Centre on a whole-of-government-cost basis.
• The Alliance will review the use of consultants to ensure that the ACT Government only uses consultants to provide services that cannot reasonably be provided by the public service.
• The Alliance will seek to ensure that departmental responsibilities are defined to improve coordination between government agencies.
• The Alliance will work to improve the accessibility of ACT government services to the ACT community.

Accountability and consultation

• The Alliance supports open and transparent decision-making with high standards of accountability to the community directly, to the Assembly and through other suitably resourced agencies such as the Auditor General and the Ombudsman.
• The Alliance will work with communities before making decisions and will insist that government departments do the same.

Economy

• The Alliance believes that parliamentary pay rises should be aligned with increases in the Average Workers’ Ordinary Time Earnings (AWOTE).
• The Alliance will ensure that politicians and senior public officials fulfil their duty to keep expenses incurred in the normal course of their duties to a minimum.