ACT Leader David Seymour has handed back a couple of portfolio responsibilities and picked one up in some quietly revealed changes.
1News approached Minister’s Seymour’s office after noticing two entries in the Prime Minister’s recently released titles of advice revealed delegation changes in his associate finance portfolio and the addition of responsibilities in associate health.
Seymour was responsible for the Natural Hazards Commission, but told 1News in a statement: “In the case of the Natural Hazards Commission, I was required to make joint decisions with the Minister of Finance. This was overly complicated, and the Commission deserves timely decisions. I asked to hand back the portfolio so the Minister of Finance alone could make them.”
It’s not the only responsibility that Nicola Willis picked up from Seymour – also taking over as the Shareholding Minister for Landcorp Farming Limited.
Seymour said “In the case of land Corp, I became aware of a conflict of interest. An Associate of mine had business dealings with the entity. Although the conflict was manageable, I thought it was best to pass back the delegation.”
He said he picked up responsibility for the deregulation of hemp under the misuse of drugs act from Health Minister Simeon Brown.
Seymour previously announced a review as the Minister of Regulation in this area.
