Page 1302 - Week 05 - Thursday, 18 June 2020
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
Accordingly, at the beginning of this month, in the last sitting, I introduced the Financial Management Amendment Bill to the Assembly. The bill, which we will again debate later today, seeks to increase the amount of funding that may be provided during the supply period to 100 per cent of the amount provided by the appropriation acts of the last fiscal year, 2019-20. This amendment ensures the ongoing operations of government services until such time as the appropriation bill for 2020-21 and the Appropriation (Office of the Legislative Assembly) Bill 2020-21 is passed by this place after the territory election.
Although the budget is delayed until after the election, the business of government does not stop. There are some decisions relating to existing government programs and projects, usually made through the budget process, which we have needed to make now to provide surety to workers and the broader community. Likewise, there are infrastructure projects that cannot wait for a delayed budget—for example, commencing work on the new east Gungahlin high school so that it is ready to accept students in 2021.
As I have said repeatedly, now is not the time for government to be withdrawing funding from the community, and we will not be doing so. All of our decisions will be included in the detail of the economic and fiscal update that the government will release in late August. This document will also provide a whole-of-government statement and update on economic conditions which, due to the rapidly evolving circumstances of the past months, has not been possible to date.
As I will outline in the motion later today, there are aspects of the Financial Management Act that will not be able to operate exactly as prescribed in coming months. Many of the provisions of the act assume that the budget is released before or at the start of the financial year—which, in large part, up until this year, has been the case over the history of self-government.
While it may not be possible to meet these requirements exactly as written, their intent—to ensure accountability and transparency—remains as important as ever. For that reason, the government will continue to provide financial and performance information. We will continue to release quarterly financial statements, but, in the absence of the 2020-21 budget, we will include the estimates for the 2020-21 year in the upcoming economic and fiscal update instead.
We will also ensure that accountability to the public remains at the forefront of the public service, with performance reporting—an important measure that recognises the effectiveness of government in delivering much-needed services—protected through interim performance targets. These targets will be aligned to the financial estimates provided in the economic and fiscal update and based on current accountability indicators which will be updated where necessary to reflect the economic survival and economic recovery measures.
The last few months have been very hard for everyone. The pain has been felt by everyone. The pandemic is not over. News that is emerging from around the world at the moment absolutely confirms that. What the future holds is unclear. What
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video