Page 4105 - Week 13 - Thursday, 10 November 1994
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
As to the particular documents tabled by the Chief Minister, they serve the purpose for which they were intended and they are consistent with documents we have received in previous years. I just ask that, when we get quarterly statements from now on, they tie back to the budget and to other documents in the same fashion.
MS FOLLETT (Chief Minister and Treasurer) (5.29), in reply: I take Mr Kaine's point that, as we move from one system of financial reporting to another, it can lead to some confusion. During this transition period it is probably the case that it is going to be quite difficult at times to make the reconciliation between the two systems. I believe that in the budget papers the two systems were reconciled and it was possible to make the translation between one system and another. In the future, as I am sure Mr Kaine is aware, the system will probably be changing again as we move more and more towards accrual accounting. Even when we have that accrual accounting, we will still have the Government finance statistics format as well. So, we are never going to have just a single way of showing all of the financial information the Government produces and it will always be necessary to try to reconcile the two.
I would like to make a couple of points about the figures Mr Kaine has referred to. On the outlays figure, that does not relate directly to cash expenditure. The expenditure in the traditional presentation includes transactions which are simply transfers between funds. So, it is not strictly related to cash expenditure. In the introduction to the new document the reasons were put forward, but I can appreciate that it was not as clear as it might have been. The points generally made by Mr Kaine are points well taken. There has been a consistent improvement in the presentation of financial information over the years. We still have a way to go. We still have some elements of change ahead of us, and I think it will be quite a challenge to ensure that the financial documentation continues to be useful and to be a real tool for accountability as far as government expenditure goes. Members can be confident that that is our aim. It is my view that budget information and financial information ought to be transparent. We do not often achieve that, and I appreciate that, for members, it can be quite a challenge. This becomes clear during the Estimates Committee process, but usually during that process there are people on hand to explain what it all means and how it has all been derived. Going through documents on your own, even for the well informed, can be quite a challenge. So, it is a point well taken.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
ADJOURNMENT
Motion (by Mr Berry) agreed to:
That the Assembly do now adjourn.
Assembly adjourned at 5.32 pm until Tuesday, 29 November 1994, at 2.30 pm
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .