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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 1 Hansard (19 February) . . Page.. 171 ..

MR QUINLAN (continuing):

I am the Treasurer. "Trust me,"he said. If you cannot trust your Treasurer, who can you trust? I am genuinely concerned that we have not got the whole picture. I really do not want to be in a position of hanging my name on a number that goes south on me at some stage.

When I am sure that we have the claims in, and the expected insurance coverage confirmed-when the expectations of the natural disaster recovery arrangement, the application of that formula, and the inclusiveness or pervasiveness of that formula are confirmed-I might get a little more courage.

MRS DUNNE: Mr Speaker, I have a supplementary question. Treasurer, can you tell us how much is in the Treasurer's Advance at the moment, and how much has already been allocated for fire relief?

MR QUINLAN: I will take a wild punt on that and then take it on notice, if you like.

MRS DUNNE: We will trust you to do that!

MR QUINLAN: Yes, trust me. I think there is something less than $18 million still there.

MRS DUNNE: Something less than $8 million?

MR QUINLAN: There is somewhere between $17 million and $18 million still left, and only a million or so has been spent or allocated at this stage.

MR STANHOPE: I ask that all further questions be placed on the notice paper.

Community service

MR WOOD: Mr Speaker, if I may, I will respond in more detail to a question from Ms Dundas yesterday. She asked me a question in relation to the new funding model for the community sector. She is correct that the government is committed to the abolition of the purchaser/provider situation, in line with our commitment in a response to the Reid review of ACT health. The Chief Minister's Department is responsible for coordinating this task on a whole-of-government basis.

The history of community service's contracting arrangements is a long and colourful one. As you would be aware, the introduction of service purchasing began in the 1997 service purchasing review, and many of the issues raised in that report remain valid. Although there have been some concerns voiced by the community sector in relation to some elements of the service purchasing arrangements which were well reflected in Mr Quinlan's report in 1999, it may be broadly agreed that concern flowed more to consistency and transparency rather than the policy itself.

Upon taking office, the government promised a review of service purchasing arrangements. One of the issues which required analysis was how community service funding processes fitted with the new procurement act. A 12-month exemption from the approved procurement unit-APU guideline-allowed existing contracts to be extended until 1 July 2003 while the necessary policy work was undertaken.

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