Effective Parliamentary Committee Inquiries Course
CDI inaugurated its new residential training course from 12 to 15 February 2008 at the Australian National University in Canberra. The course, developed by CDI and aimed specifically at parliamentary committee staff, focused on the practical aspects of parliamentary committee work. It was convened by CDI Deputy Director, Mr Quinton Clements, and Mr Steven Reynolds, the Clerk Assistant of Committees and the Usher of the Black Rod in the Legislative Council of the New South Wales Parliament.
18 parliamentary committee staff from CDI's target countries of Indonesia, Timor-Leste, Papua New Guinea, the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, Fiji and Solomon Islands together with their counterparts from Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania and Bangladesh participated. The new Director of the Secretariat of the National Parliament of Timor-Leste, Mr Joao Rui Amaral, was among the participants.
The course program followed the process of conducting a committee inquiry from the beginning with the issuing of terms of reference for an inquiry through to the drafting of the final report and its tabling in Parliament. Topics covered included planning and budgeting for an inquiry, collecting evidence, processing written submissions, conducting public hearings and analysing the evidence received. Several guest presenters addressed specific issues and case studies including Mr Andrew Dawson and Mr Russell Chafer from the Australian Parliament, and Mr Leslie Gonye, Ms Helen Minnican, Ms Beverly Duffy and Ms Julie Langsworth of the New South Wales Parliament. Mr Dawson spoke about advertising an inquiry, Mr Chafer gave a presentation on preparing a budget for an inquiry, and Ms Minnican spoke about the hearing processes for NSW parliamentary committees.
As part of the course the participants visited the Australian Parliament's House of Representatives during the first sitting week of the 42nd Parliament and met with the new Speaker, the Hon. Harry Jenkins MP. The group then held roundtable discussions on the importance of committee work, firstly with the Clerk of the House of Representatives, Mr Ian Harris, then with two committee secretaries, Mr James Catchpole and Ms Anna Dacre.
The program was designed to be very interactive and practically oriented. Participants not only learnt from the presenters but were encouraged to learn about committee work in each other's respective parliaments. The group undertook a number of exercises, both in small groups and as individuals, including a mock public hearing in which each participant played a specific role.
Participants from the African and Asian parliaments were sponsored by the World Bank Institute and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. The parliaments of New South Wales and the Commonwealth of Australia provided additional support for the course.
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