Page 3327 - Week 13 - Tuesday, 24 November 1992
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ESTIMATES - SELECT COMMITTEE
Report on the Appropriation Bill 1992-93 - Government Response -
Ministerial Statement
MS FOLLETT (Chief Minister and Treasurer) (3.23): Madam Speaker, I ask for leave of the Assembly to make a ministerial statement on the Government's response to the report of the Select Committee on Estimates 1992-93.
Leave granted.
MS FOLLETT: I am pleased to respond on behalf of the Government to the report by the Estimates Committee on the 1992-93 Appropriation Bill. Before going further, I would like to thank the committee for its report. I believe that the detailed examination of government expenditures carried out by the committee has, as in previous years, made a strong contribution to open and accountable government. I would also like to express appreciation to Ms Szuty in her role as presiding member of the committee. Madam Speaker, I am sure all members will appreciate that this is a most time consuming and difficult task.
The committee's report produced 17 recommendations. I do not propose to deal with each one individually, as the Government has prepared a detailed response to each recommendation, which I have just tabled. The Government is appreciative of the committee's comments about the improvement in the format of the budget papers and in the timeliness and quality of explanatory notes provided to the committee this year. The committee also expressed the view that the standard of performance indicator measurement is steadily improving. The continued refinement of budget and budget related papers can only improve the quality of the committee's deliberations, and the Government will ensure that these improvements continue.
I would like to reassert my Government's full support of the view that the public should have ready access to information relating to the performance of all programs in the ACT Government Service. Just as importantly, I am concerned that such information is provided in a cost-effective manner and that duplication of information and effort in providing it is minimised. To this end, I note the committee's concerns relating to inconsistencies and overlaps in the budget papers, explanatory notes and annual reports, and I am confident that the quality and format of information provided next year will be an improvement on 1992-93, just as this year's was an improvement on 1991-92.
The Government supports the recommendation that corporate plans should be included in the material provided to future estimates committees. We also appreciate the need for timely advice to the committee on all corrections to documents in writing prior to the hearings. The Government also accepts the need for more detailed categorisation of administrative operational expenses and improved information on use of consultants and other external labour. To achieve this there is a need to develop a clear and simple system of classifying the sources of external labour. However, the Government also has an obligation to ensure that its administrative resources are used in a cost-effective manner. We have to weigh up the benefits to the Government and the public of having detailed information available against the cost of compiling that information.
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