Page 3186 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 11 September 1991
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advance I will always find out the information and give him the detail. Administrative minutiae is something no Minister has full coverage of.
Mr Moore's question relates to a notice in the Contracts Arranged section in a recent ACT Gazette which listed boldly, under the Asbestos Branch, "Credit Card, $600,000". It is to the credit of Mr Moore and not the official Opposition that it was Mr Moore who picked this up. He obviously assiduously goes through the Gazette. Any member would blanch at the thought of a Bankcard credit limit of $600,000. It is an extraordinary proposition. I am pleased to advise the house that this is an error.
Some time ago it was decided - I think the original movement was under the former Labor Government, but then it was implemented gradually under the Alliance Government - that it did make sense to allow departments to have credit card facilities to pay for small purchases. When a small business person in Canberra supplies, say, biros to a government department, if it is done through the ordinary purchasing and requisition arrangements there is a long lead time between the placement of the order and the business person getting the order paid. Members have often raised that matter in the Assembly. It does make sense to have credit card facilities. It would appear that the $600,000 referred to in the Gazette was a bulk requisition for credit card funds generally. There is no credit card in existence that has a $600,000 limit.
Mr Duby: Yes, the Amex gold card.
MR CONNOLLY: Perhaps Mr Duby has an extraordinarily beneficial credit card with such a limit. There is not a $600,000 credit card in operation. This card is held by the head of the Asbestos Branch. It is used for emergency purchases, such as emergency accommodation, supplies for removal teams and air monitoring laboratories, maintenance of houses. The advantage of using a credit card is that the small supplier gets paid under the ordinary terms of credit - the credit card arrangement within 30 days - rather than having to wait sometimes for months.
I am advised that usage of the card has been minimal. As a result of this being brought to my attention, we are certainly strengthening controls to ensure that when departments put things in the Gazette they do it accurately and that we do not have this sort of extraordinary proposition, which quite properly Mr Moore raises in the Assembly at question time. It would be an extraordinary proposition to have any member of the ACT Government Service or any government official or Minister running around the town with a $600,000 open credit card limit. In fact, that is not the case. That was simply a bulk requisition.
MR MOORE: I ask a supplementary question, Mr Speaker. We are told that there is no credit limit of $600,000. What is the credit limit on the cards?
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