❓ Opposition MP questions the confidentiality of Gold Corporation board minutes and the Minister's access, referencing the Gold Corporation Act. The Parliamentary Secretary defends the practice of keeping minutes confidential to maintain board governance and denies misleading the house.
AnsweredQoN 286Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
GOLD CORPORATION — BOARD MINUTES
286. Hon Dr STEVE THOMAS to the parliamentary secretary
representing the Minister for Mines and Petroleum:
I refer to the minister's
answer to question without notice 234 asked on 16 March 2023 on the board of
Gold Corporation, which oversees the Perth Mint, and to section 6(7) of
the Gold Corporation Act 1987, which states —
For parliamentary purposes, or for the proper
conduct of the Minister's public business —
(a)
Gold Corporation shall furnish to the Minister all information in the
possession of Gold Corporation relating to the business of Gold Corporation or
a subsidiary; and
(b)
the Board shall ensure that the Minister shall have and may retain copies of
any documents requested.
I ask —
(1) Given
section 6(7) as stated, is the board legally required to keep board minutes
confidential to the board?
(2) Can the minister access those minutes?
(3) Does the
fact that Gold Corporation is a statutory corporation, rather than a public
company traded on the share market, disprove the answer received to question
without notice 234?
(4) Did the
member reading the answer to question without notice 234, whether deliberately
or not, mislead this house with that answer?
The
PRESIDENT : Leader of the Opposition, could you re-read part (1) of the
question.
Hon Dr STEVE THOMAS : Given section 6(7) as stated, is
the board legally required to keep board minutes confidential to the board?
The PRESIDENT : Leader of the Opposition, I suspect that that
part of the question does not meet the requirements of standing order
105, which requires that questions do not seek a legal opinion or
interpretation. I am not prepared yet to
consider ruling that question out of order. What I might do in order to keep
the flow of question time is to ask the
parliamentary secretary whether he is able to answer that. If any further
action is required, I will come back to it.
286. Hon Dr STEVE THOMAS to the parliamentary secretary
representing the Minister for Mines and Petroleum:
I refer to the minister's
answer to question without notice 234 asked on 16 March 2023 on the board of
Gold Corporation, which oversees the Perth Mint, and to section 6(7) of
the Gold Corporation Act 1987, which states —
For parliamentary purposes, or for the proper
conduct of the Minister's public business —
(a)
Gold Corporation shall furnish to the Minister all information in the
possession of Gold Corporation relating to the business of Gold Corporation or
a subsidiary; and
(b)
the Board shall ensure that the Minister shall have and may retain copies of
any documents requested.
I ask —
(1) Given
section 6(7) as stated, is the board legally required to keep board minutes
confidential to the board?
(2) Can the minister access those minutes?
(3) Does the
fact that Gold Corporation is a statutory corporation, rather than a public
company traded on the share market, disprove the answer received to question
without notice 234?
(4) Did the
member reading the answer to question without notice 234, whether deliberately
or not, mislead this house with that answer?
The
PRESIDENT : Leader of the Opposition, could you re-read part (1) of the
question.
Hon Dr STEVE THOMAS : Given section 6(7) as stated, is
the board legally required to keep board minutes confidential to the board?
The PRESIDENT : Leader of the Opposition, I suspect that that
part of the question does not meet the requirements of standing order
105, which requires that questions do not seek a legal opinion or
interpretation. I am not prepared yet to
consider ruling that question out of order. What I might do in order to keep
the flow of question time is to ask the
parliamentary secretary whether he is able to answer that. If any further
action is required, I will come back to it.
AnswerView source ↗
Thank you, President.
I thank the member for some notice of the question. We have
an answer for that part. If the member had simply omitted the word ''legally'',
the question would have still stood. Perhaps as a matter of future practice, he
might avoid using that term to avoid confusion about whether he is seeking a legal
opinion.
The PRESIDENT : Thank you for your interpretation on
the standing orders, parliamentary secretary. Do you have an answer?
Hon MATTHEW SWINBOURN : I do have an answer.
(1) The board
performs its governance oversight functions in accordance with the act and good
governance practices. Good practice for
boards is for board minutes to be kept confidential to the board. Board minutes are available to the Auditor General and other proper authorities as and if
required.
(2) Minutes of
government trading enterprises are not shared with the minister because this
would undermine the governance oversight role of each board.
(3) No.
(4) No.
I thank the member for some notice of the question. We have
an answer for that part. If the member had simply omitted the word ''legally'',
the question would have still stood. Perhaps as a matter of future practice, he
might avoid using that term to avoid confusion about whether he is seeking a legal
opinion.
The PRESIDENT : Thank you for your interpretation on
the standing orders, parliamentary secretary. Do you have an answer?
Hon MATTHEW SWINBOURN : I do have an answer.
(1) The board
performs its governance oversight functions in accordance with the act and good
governance practices. Good practice for
boards is for board minutes to be kept confidential to the board. Board minutes are available to the Auditor General and other proper authorities as and if
required.
(2) Minutes of
government trading enterprises are not shared with the minister because this
would undermine the governance oversight role of each board.
(3) No.
(4) No.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.