Page 3333 - Week 11 - Tuesday, 12 October 1993
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Mr Berry: No. It is budgeted October to October instead of June to June.
MRS CARNELL: That is not how most organisations work, Mr Berry. Unfortunately, the Taxation Office and other places which need reports from these sorts of organisations, particularly ones that are incorporated, have to operate on a financial year basis, surprising as it may seem. These organisations find a great deal of difficulty with this - - -
Mr Berry: But you budget on that. You plan your business affairs around October to October.
MRS CARNELL: They are not confident about what funding they can get. Obviously, bringing forward the budget would help these sorts of organisations greatly in their planning and in doing what the Australian Taxation Office and the securities office and others require. I was very pleased, though, to see that the Chief Minister and Mr Kaine agreed so definitely on how this would improve the lot of Canberrans. It certainly would improve the Estimates Committee procedure, as both the Chief Minister and Mr Kaine have already said. I think everyone who is feeling somewhat exhausted today, after some very heavy weeks, would agree that it is a very appropriate approach. It would certainly help the members of this Assembly, but, more importantly, the people of Canberra.
MR MOORE (4.32): Madam Speaker, it is quite refreshing to hear general agreement on an issue like this within the Assembly. One of the very interesting things in terms of what we know goes on in this Assembly is the compromises and agreements that are reached. The general public is very rarely aware of that side of the Assembly. That happens, I think, in connection with the vast majority of our business. Take, for example, the Estimates Committee, Madam Speaker. There was a genuine effort by members to search out information and to be critical of expenditure - an aim that was shared, I think, by both government and non-government members. Madam Speaker, it is interesting that issues like this are so rarely reported. Of course, good media, as many people see it, requires conflict. It is conflict that maintains interest in a story. So, when members of the Assembly agree that we ought to be attempting to reach a situation where we do not provide supply for basically half of the whole budget at a time without knowing where that money is going to go, it is important, I think, for us to explain that that sort of an agreement is not unusual.
Mr Kaine has raised an important issue, a way of improving accountability. That is what the issue is about - improving accountability. It seems to me that there have been a number of issues where the question of accountability has come to the fore in this Assembly and in the previous Assembly, Madam Speaker. It seems to me that we are slowly making the business of government in the ACT more and more accountable. Some members here, Madam Speaker, pretend to want this house abolished. One member in particular has not been involved in the Estimates Committee process at all and is not interested in accountability. I do not recall seeing that member during any of my public involvement in matters of interest in the time leading up to self-government when accountability was absolutely minimal. Mr Cornwell, for example, will remember those times and the community groups that he and other members here were involved with and which sought accountability in many ways. I think that one of the positive aspects to come out of our self-government is the improvement in accountability of everything that is done within the departments.
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