Page 1725 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 1 April 2009
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I am hoping Ms Gallagher will see the sense of this and that, as Treasurer, Ms Gallagher will say: “Look, it’s not unreasonable to get the information out there. It’s not unreasonable for members of the Assembly to want this. We brief the press from 10, 10.30, 11 o’clock on the day of the budget, so we actually accord more courtesy to the press in dealing with this than we do to this place.” That is what is of concern. Indeed, there are stakeholder briefings; stakeholders are given copies of documents and there is a PowerPoint presentation. That happened last year and that is a further courtesy that was not afforded to this place.
I did have some hopes that we might get a few changes, but I see the minister has put out a press release, in anticipation of the debate, saying that basically there is no hope of any of this happening. It is interesting that the Treasurer put out a press release entitled “ACT government commits to open budget process” but then chooses not to include the members of the Assembly in that. One of the paragraphs goes:
The Treasurer said in no other jurisdiction would the Opposition seriously expect to receive copies of the Budget well in advance of the Appropriation Bill being tabled in the parliament.
But they get it some hours before in New South Wales; they get it less time before in South Australia. But the reality is that in the parliament closest to us, the federal parliament, they get it a full day before the appropriation bill is tabled in the parliament at 7.30 pm; they get it that morning. They have a whole day. And indeed the federal parliament provides a lockup for the federal opposition. The Howard government certainly did it for the successive leaders of the opposition from the Labor Party. The Rudd government did it last year, and arrangements are in place to do it this year.
So again we have got a Treasurer who puts out incorrect statements. If she had said that in this place, she would have to withdraw it. She says in her press release:
… in no other jurisdiction would the opposition seriously expect to receive copies of the Budget well in advance of the Appropriation Bill being tabled in the parliament.
In the federal parliament, they get it that morning. They get copies of the papers. They are allowed to take their laptops in. They are briefed. The only things they are not allowed to do are leave the lockup or take their mobile phones in with them. But they get a full day to digest the budget, so that at 7.30 when the Treasurer gives his speech they are well briefed on what is in it, so that they can enter into the debate. And that is not an unreasonable thing.
My recollection of when we were in office is that we certainly provided them about midday. There was certainly a briefing where members could come and ask questions of Treasury officials—it was normally the Under Treasurer—and I remember in the first Stanhope government that we were accorded that courtesy. I remember talking to the Under Treasurer and his officials on the day, in the break between the morning session and the start of question time. So for the Treasurer to put out this absolutely ridiculous, misleading and inaccurate press release is just appalling.
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