Page 4016 - Week 13 - Tuesday, 23 November 1993
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
Madam Speaker, I support the Government's response to the Estimates Committee report.
Mr Humphries: We have not heard it yet.
MRS GRASSBY: They are about to give it to you; do not worry. I think Ms Szuty handled a difficult task well. She tried to keep everybody happy, and that is very difficult when you are dealing with people in the Opposition. Some absolutely stupid questions were asked, and some people thought they were being smart by trying to blacken people's background.
Mrs Carnell: At least we know what we are talking about.
MRS GRASSBY: Really? That is not what I am told. As I say, I support some of the recommendations but not all of them.
MR WOOD (Minister for Education and Training, Minister for the Arts and Minister for the Environment, Land and Planning) (9.57): Madam Speaker, this is the fifth time there has been an estimates committee to look over the budget, the Appropriation Bill. I think it is fair to say that as a result of that the way that budgets are presented is much improved. The presentation of documentation is a good deal better, and I think we all understand the processes better as a consequence.
I think it is fair to say also that the Estimates Committee members learn as they go along, but I think there is still a great deal to be learned. For example - and this is what struck me and has me on my feet - Ms Szuty said that the committee secretariat did a marvellous job in reducing the size of a mountain of material. I do not think it was a difficult job. There was so much padding and there was so much in response to the fishing expeditions that Mr Humphries mentioned that finding some meat would not have been difficult.
I think that the Estimates Committee has a great deal to learn yet in getting to the point and then moving to other pertinent issues. It seemed to me that it was with some pride that Ms Szuty said, "We spent 83 hours in the Estimates Committee". To me that is a great criticism. I do not believe that for 83 hours - 20 hours and a bit per Minister - this is a marvellous output. You have to add to that 83 hours at the committee the enormous amount of time that our public servants around Canberra spent on getting this information together.
Mrs Grassby mentioned the assets register of the Milk Authority. The assets register of the Education Department was also sought. It was a thick document, and I bet nobody looked at one page of it. You simply could not read it all, but you required it. When someone says, "We have information", some members say, "Yes, please". They will grab for anything without a critical assessment of what they really want. In many circumstances it is, as Mr Humphries admitted, a fishing expedition. I think the committee has a fair deal yet to do to improve its techniques so that they match the way that the two governments - Labor Government for four budgets - have refined procedures and made them better. I do not think it is to the committee's great credit to say that it spent 83 hours in this process.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .