Llew Edwards outlines the political significance of parliamentary accountability and comments on the development of parliamentary committees.

Judy Spence discusses the commitment of the Goss Government to re-establishing the committee system following its dismantling by the National Party in the 1970s and 1980s. She describes the dynamism of the committee system in the 1990s, whose chairs included Peter Beattie, Matt Foley, Rod Welford, Judy Spence, Tony McGrady, Robert Schwarten and others who went on to become ministers. She outlines the further decline in the committee system where reports are now routinely ignored by the media, academia and the parliament resulting in less accountability.