Nita Green (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Tourism) Share this | Hansard source

I will just run you through the bill because the bill does set out what standards for unsatisfactory performance of statutory office holders are impacted. The bill introduces a mechanism impacting the CEOs of Austrade and ACIAR that will allow the relevant minister to determine a performance standard in writing that the relevant statutory office holder will be expected to adhere to. Unsatisfactory performance may be judged against that standard. The bill has been intentionally devised to ensure that the judgement rests with the relevant person responsible for the termination. This also addresses a concern that executive accountability would be weakened where the standard is set externally or inflexibly in legislation. It allows the standards to be adapted to suit government and portfolio priorities as they progress.