Page 4922 - Week 16 - Tuesday, 26 November 1991
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It is a great disappointment to me that that efficiency audit was not carried out. I urge the Chief Minister to consider, perhaps by way of the Treasurer's Advance, providing the Auditor-General with the extra funding that he had requested for an efficiency audit. Certainly, in the next budget, there needs to be extra funding to allow the really independent part of the Auditor-General's role to be taken on. I am aware that the Auditor-General chose to do some other efficiency audits rather than that specific one and, of course, nobody would interfere with the priorities that he sets; but in my opinion the leasing area would have a much higher priority.
Having said that, I think it is important at this stage, since this is the first time I have spoken to the Appropriation Bill, for me to say that, whilst I would urge the Government to take certain action, I recognise a very basic principle with a minority government, and that is the minority government's right to have their own budget. As much as I criticise it and make suggestions, I recognise that they have the right to their own budget.
I am sure that Mrs Nolan would have felt almost compelled, for example, to move a motion to increase the vote for the tourism section. But she, appropriately, has recognised the minority Government's right to its own budget. That has to be recognised as an important part of the role of a minority government. If you do not give them their own budget, if you are prepared to interfere with it, then the whole system of minority government is going to be brought into question. We will lose the benefits of minority governments, which we may well have for some time to come. Any moves to make amendments to this Appropriation Bill are entirely inappropriate.
MR COLLAERY (5.46): I wish to add a few comments. The independence of the Auditor-General is important in terms of the appropriation of funds. There will be a Bill before the house, at some stage, dealing with the executive independence of the Auditor-General, and I will not refer to that. But there is a clear need - as was detailed in the Auditor-General's special report No. 8 and his further report No. 9 - to appropriate funds so as to give us a separate quarantined appropriation for the Auditor-General. The same should apply to the Parliamentary Counsel's Office as well.
I believe that the role of the Auditor-General should be as independent as possible from the Executive. It is in the Executive's interest for that to occur as well. Additionally, we believe that the Chief Minister's investigations section should operate direct to the Auditor-General so that there is again a level of independence.
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