Page 4294 - Week 15 - Tuesday, 20 November 1990
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
subsequently, after that, he was given written advice. It is quite clear that when somebody says that the verbal advice disagrees with the written advice, and the written advice has come after the verbal advice, the verbal advice cannot possibly take priority. So, it was a clear cut case, as far as I am concerned, of misleading evidence. It was totally inappropriate. I draw the Assembly,s attention to the fact that this is not the first time. I have been through a Senate Hansard of 14 April 1988 where the same situation applied on the previous round of school closures. You would think that the man would have been more careful.
It is a warning to other public servants that when they come before an Assembly committee they should take very, very careful note of what they are going to say and be very careful about making sure that what they say is in fact accurate. I think there were other members who certainly ran on a very fine line, I must say. However, I think this was a clear cut case. Many issues in terms of education have been raised as far as this budget goes. I see that I have run out of time; so I think I will leave it there.
MRS NOLAN (8.53): Mr Speaker, I rise just very briefly in this debate on the Estimates Committee report. As a member of the Estimates Committee, I support the report which was tabled to you on 5 November. I am sure all members have had it for some time.
The Estimates Committee is a very important mechanism for examining the expenditure proposals contained in the Appropriation Bill 1990-91 and I fully endorse the remarks made by Mr Jensen and other members of the committee in relation to that mechanism or scrutiny.
I must say, Mr Speaker, as a member of that committee, that I think the recommendation in paragraph 4.10 is absolutely essential. Paragraph 4.10 states:
The Committee recommends that:
. future Estimates Committees be established at the time of introduction of the Appropriation Bill into the Legislative Assembly by the Treasurer at the latest.
I wholeheartedly support those earlier comments by Mr Stefaniak. I believe, as does the committee, that it is very important that the committee be established early, so that the committee and Ministers and officials are able to come to mutually acceptable times and so that information can be readily available early, rather than have a considerable gap, as we had this year after the committee was formed, before the questioning and scrutiny can occur.
Mr Speaker, this report is detailed and much has already been said about it, but there is one particular recommendation that, like Mr Stefaniak, I particularly want to mention. It is the recommendation in paragraph 3.69. I will read that into the record and make a few brief comments on it. It states:
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .