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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 12 Hansard (21 November) . . Page.. 4064 ..

MRS CARNELL (continuing):

Some of the other issues that were raised related to reporting on Government initiatives in the budget papers. Again the reason that that will need to be in the annual reports is that, as the budget comes down before the end of the financial year, it will be impossible to report on how we are going with our initiatives before the end of the financial year. We simply would not know. We would not have the end of financial year data to be able to report against the initiatives that we have announced in the budget process. The logic of having it in the annual reports is simply that the annual reports come down after the end of the financial year and are the vehicle we use for reporting full-year figures. Again, there is no effort not to do what the Estimates Committee wanted us to do, but what we are doing is simply the only sensible way to go. Listening to all of the comments - and I fully understand just how difficult it is to come to grips with this new approach to budgeting - I think - - -

Mr Berry: Not at all. It is easy.

MRS CARNELL: Mr Berry says that it is easy. A large number of the comments from those opposite tonight showed a fundamental problem in coming to grips with the fact that we are now dealing - - -

Ms McRae: It would have helped if the answers had come on time.

MRS CARNELL: I will address that. They certainly did show a fundamental lack of understanding that we are now dealing in outputs, not in inputs. I am sure that that understanding will come in time. I note the comments about failure to respond to questions. I fully accept that that is not acceptable. I understand that there were a few situations where we did ask for extensions, but where extensions were not asked for it is not acceptable that answers were late. We will certainly attempt to make sure that that does not happen again in the future.

Mr Moore made a comment about full-time equivalents. I think we have already made the point that we are very happy to report in the annual reports in terms of full-time equivalents, and we will be doing so in future years. We fully accept that that is a standardised way to operate. As we say in our response, that is the way our staffing formulas are put together.

The one issue that is probably somewhat outside the Estimates Committee report but needs to be answered is that of the four-wheel-drive that Mr Berry raised again. Mr Berry commented that having a four-wheel-drive Subaru is way out of the ordinary and something that we simply cannot accept in the ACT Government. Mr Berry, for your information - I think it is very important to listen - the ACT Government has, and had when you were in government, a wide range of fully imported vehicles - - -

Mr Berry: I am talking about four-wheel-drive Subarus.

MRS CARNELL: We have a wide range of four-wheel-drives, Mr Berry. We have Toyota Landcruisers, Toyota Hiluxes, Mitsubushi Pajeros and Holden Jackaroos. Certainly, when you were in government, Mr Berry, we even had Subarus.

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