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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 3 Hansard (9 April) . . Page.. 743 ..

MS TUCKER (continuing):

arguments are equally applicable to our own jurisdiction. The Canadian Government has also recognised the benefits of ensuring that the Auditor-General's Office is staffed with competent individuals who are well trained and knowledgeable about environmental matters and the audit of environmental issues. While this Assembly may not believe that it is appropriate to have a fully dedicated commissioner within the Audit Office, it certainly would be useful if some of the staff members had more expertise in environmental and social auditing techniques, and obviously useful if there was more overlap between the Commissioner for the Environment and the Audit Office.

The Auditor-General has a very important role in our system of government. The Greens believe that this role could be strengthened and improved by broadening the brief of the Audit Office. This Bill does not say that the Auditor-General must always consider social and environmental issues. What we are saying is that, where appropriate, the relative social and environmental costs and benefits should be taken into consideration. Having the Auditor-General take on this role will assist with reconciling competing objectives about environmental and economic issues, and it will also help the Auditor-General to identify areas where government activities could be run more efficiently through implementing better environmental management programs. At the moment, the Government has very little idea of where potential savings could be made through better environmental management programs.

In the past, I have also indicated why I think some recognition of social costs and benefits of government activities should also be considered by the Auditor-General. Some of the performance audits where I think it would be appropriate to take a broader view of costs and benefits include those audits which have looked at the effectiveness of education funding, because qualitative social factors such as high retention rates are often overlooked. The audit into government passenger cars could have integrated environmental factors such as fuel use and car pooling in the context of our greenhouse gas reduction obligations. The audit into road and streetlight maintenance and ACTEW's performance could also have considered environmental factors. As I said earlier, one of the benefits of taking this approach is that the Audit Office may be able to recommend areas where the Government could save money. The days of economic blinkers are over. We need to recognise that a narrow focus on the bottom line often is not the best way of assessing value for money. I commend this Bill to the Assembly.

Debate (on motion by Mr Kaine) adjourned.

MR MOORE (11.04): Mr Speaker, in accordance with standing order 152, I move:

That order of the day No. 1, private Members' business, relating to the Medical Treatment (Amendment) Bill 1997, be discharged from the Notice Paper.

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