The Progressive Labour Party's record on good governance will come under the spotlight in a House of Assembly debate today.Premier Paula Cox will open discussion on the Good Governance Act, which she says will make financial abuse a thing of the past by introducing heavy punishments for politicians trying to influence the awarding of Government contracts.However, the One Bermuda Alliance argues there's little point introducing such legislation when the Auditor General is repeatedly required to highlight how existing rules on good governance are not enforced.Shadow Attorney General Trevor Moniz yesterday pointed to a catalogue of controversies, including Bermuda Land Development Corporation paying $160,000 in consultancy fees to the own chairman and deputy of its own board.“We have had a Minister resign over dealings with other Ministers. We have had another Minister resign and then the first Minister reinstated, without anything being clarified about anyone doing anything wrong,” said the Smith's West MP, who will speak on the matter today.“To the Bermudian public, it's all becoming just a joke. If you pass legislation, what's the point when all this happens?”Ms Cox said: “Since 1998 the PLP have made steady progress improving good governance in Bermuda.“The Bermudian people know the achievements of the PLP when it comes to good governance.“They know we strengthened the office of the Auditor General; they know we created the Office of the Ombudsman; they know we established the Department of Internal Audit; they know we introduced Public Access To Information; and they know we established the Office of Project Management and Procurement. The PLP has an excellent record of ensuring fairness and providing new opportunities for Bermudians.”When she tabled the bill last month, Ms Cox said it was time to “get rid of the who-you-know stuff”.Some party colleagues were angered at what they perceived to be an admission that the PLP had fallen short on good governance in the past.An OBA spokesman said: “This has been a serious and ongoing problem within this Government as the Auditor General indicated two months ago when she warned that public officials would continue abusing public funds until they are held to account.“The problem is real, as the Premier herself alluded two months ago when she introduced the first of her pre-election good governance measures saying the new rules would ensure 'abuses will be a thing of the past'.“For good governance reform to work, you need real commitment and belief. The programme put forward by the PLP Government has been halfhearted and late, with little real follow-through. Where is Freedom of Information?“The OBA will support the legislation only because it is a step in the right direction. But what Bermuda really needs is a leap in the right direction.”United Bermuda Party leader Kim Swan said: “While the introduction of good governance legislation is welcomed by Mr Charlie Swan MP and myself, we in the United Bermuda Party have long been proponents of the need for the PLP Government to follow best practices that would have ensured Bermuda Government was run utilising good governance methodology.“Notwithstanding, while this and other good governance legislation that the Premier has brought forward in recent months is needed, it also validates the motions that we have brought to the House of Assembly, such as the motions on the CPA Benchmarks, Code of Conduct and the Ombudsman Report which have pushed the Government to ensure that they follow through on their promise to introduce good governance legislation.“Unfortunately bad practice by the PLP Government has made the need for good governance legislation more than necessary.“The real challenge is to reverse the mindset which allowed this culture of bad practices to mushroom.“We also feel duty bound to point out that micromanaging by Ministers, unethical practices, permitted excessive overspending on projects and a failure to adhere to previously established best practices has blurred the lines of authority between the role of Ministers and that of the Civil Service.“We are obviously supportive of the good governance legislation but we are obviously disappointed at what has transpired to bring us to this point.”