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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 2 Hansard (27 February) . . Page.. 339 ..

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS ON NOTICE

MS FOLLETT: Mr Speaker, under standing order 118A, I wish to ask Mrs Carnell again to answer question on notice No. 123, which first appeared on the notice paper on 6 December 1995.

MRS CARNELL: I gave an answer last week in this Assembly and said that I had written to Ms Follett with regard to the question of act of grace payments and making sure what has happened right across the ACT Government Service. It is a quite complex question. I wrote to her and explained that it would take some time, and I said last week that I was happy to make that information available as soon as possible. That stands.

Motion

MS FOLLETT (Leader of the Opposition) (3.32): Mr Speaker, under standing order 118A, I move:

That the Assembly requires the Chief Minister to respond to question on notice No. 123, which first appeared on the Notice Paper on 6 December 1995, by the adjournment of the Assembly's sitting today.

I want, first of all, to draw to the Assembly's attention the fact that a question on the notice paper has been unanswered by the Government over a very long period. I would like to read the question to the Assembly because I think it is important for members to understand that this is not the most complex question ever asked of a government. The question reads:

In relation to Act of Grace payments, writing off or waiver of rights to money under section 43 or 124 of the Audit Act or any other Act, between 9 March 1995 and 30 November 1995 -

(1) Who was the beneficial recipient of the decision.

(2) What was the amount of money involved.

(3) On what date was the decision made.

(4) What was the reason for the decision?

The Government has had since 6 December to address that question. I understand that it is a question that requires a whole-of-government response and that each department will have to check their financial records in order to come up with the information I have requested. Nevertheless, I want to make it clear that the period I have inquired about expired in November last year, and the date of my question was December. I had no intention of setting an unreasonable question, nor has the Chief Minister ever argued that that question was unreasonable.

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