Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 13 Hansard (2 December) . . Page.. 4384 ..

MR WHITECROSS: Mrs Carnell interjects that she agrees with this, too. So, I do not think Mrs Carnell should get up in this place and say that she cannot understand why anyone would move an amendment of this kind. Clearly, it is an issue which has general support.

As Mr Berry rightly indicates, it is also an issue in relation to which there is a need for change, consequent upon the change that we have made to the timing of elections. Under the provisions of the Financial Management Act as it currently exists, a budget can be brought down as late as 30 September, with an election some three weeks away. It would be a completely inappropriate timeframe for that to happen. I think it is appropriate for this Assembly to try to set down timeframes that it believes are appropriate, rather than allowing a situation where a government can, on the eve of an election, bring down a budget full of grandiose promises with no opportunity for the Assembly to scrutinise those things before the election is held. So, I think that the spirit of Mr Berry's amendment certainly holds up.

Mr Speaker, this has actually been the subject of discussions between the parties behind the scenes dating back to the time that I was the shadow Treasurer and had responsibility for electoral matters. We had discussions with Mr Humphries, for instance, in relation to changing the timing of elections to ensure that the timing of budgets was rolled into discussions. Unfortunately, when the amendments to the electoral law were rushed into this house, the Government had not yet come to the position of agreeing to a proposal to change the provisions relating to the timing of the budget. It is unfortunate that that issue had not been resolved in the context of the change to the electoral timetable, to which primarily it relates. It seems to me, then, that in principle the argument has a lot of merit.

However, I must say that Mrs Carnell makes a good point - and a point that I think ought to be taken account of - when she indicates that a problem does exist in the transition to these new arrangements for the 1998 budget. The election on 21 February next year will be the last February election in the ACT. After that, elections will be held in October, according to the Electoral Act passed earlier this year. As a result, we will have a one-off problem next year with insisting on the budget being brought down before the end of the financial year, as the election is to be held on 21 February and then there has to be appropriate time for ballots to be counted, a Chief Minister to be elected, et cetera.

Mrs Carnell makes a good point and it is something that I think we ought to address. Perhaps Mr Berry is going to address it very shortly in relation to next year specifically. Once Mr Berry has come up with the appropriate mechanism, which he is drafting even as I speak - and I will speak for as long as it takes him to draft it - we should support his amendment because I am sure it will provide a proper framework for the future while also taking account of the very valid concerns that Mrs Carnell raised about the situation next year.

For the long term, that will create a situation where we have bipartisan agreement on the timing of budgets and, hopefully, appropriate space for the scrutiny of budgets to ensure that the Assembly has adequate time to consider and vote on appropriations before an election date rolls around. In doing that, we will be setting in place mechanisms which link the provisions of the Financial Management Act and the electoral legislation which are appropriate and which ensure that all the elements of our legislation work together.

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .