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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 13 Hansard (4 December) . . Page.. 4616 ..

MR WHITECROSS (continuing):

I also pay tribute to the dedicated work on the committee during the current Assembly by former members, Mr Kaine, Mr Wood and Ms Follett. All also served with distinction as chair of the committee at some time, either during this Assembly or in a previous one. It is important to record that integrity has been maintained within the committee, in that on certain occasions one of its members who had exercised ministerial authority in a previous government in relation to matters dealt with by the Auditor-General took no part in the committee's deliberations. This also serves to remind us all of both the intimacy and the vagaries of Assembly and political life.

Turning to the scope for change in approach, the range of matters dealt with by the committee will also show that there is scope for a greater degree of expertise to be brought to bear on the matters covered by reports of the Auditor-General. With the agreement of the Standing Committee on Planning and Environment, an Auditor-General's report dealing with contaminated sites was referred to that committee as it had such matters under examination. Similar cases may arise in the future. There is also scope for a more general policy of referring certain Auditor-General reports to other standing committees.

The Assembly has attempted, with some success, to marshal membership resources to ensure that those members with specific Territory interests are able to serve on those committees which most closely reflect their interests. While the Public Accounts Committee in the next Assembly will need to retain its function of auditing the accountability of agencies, it may see overall benefit for the Assembly in involving other committees, as appropriate, in reviewing the Auditor-General's reports which deal with matters falling within the direct ambit of those committees. This could ensure expert scrutiny by members in appropriate cases and keep those committees informed on contemporary developments within ACT government agencies.

I refer now to the operations of government. The committee has also taken very seriously its obligations and its right to examine the operations of government at both Executive and official levels. Hence, the committee inquired into and reported on matters such as access to Cabinet and other deliberative documents, the property of previous governments; the Public Sector Management (Amendment) Bill; the voluntary parent contribution scheme in ACT schools; purchaser-provider agreements; appointments to Territory-owned corporations; the asset management strategy; lease and leaseback arrangements; and the business incentive scheme. In the process the committee has had cause to question aspects of Government procedure and policy such as recourse to commercial-in-confidence to avoid providing the committee with details of financial transactions which the committee was not only entitled to receive but also had a responsibility to scrutinise. The Public Accounts Committee in the next Assembly will no doubt bring this matter under closer scrutiny.

I want to refer now to external relationships. The committee is a member of the Australasian Council of Public Accounts Committees, the aim of which is to facilitate the exchange of information and opinion relating to public accounts committees, to discuss matters of mutual concern and to improve the quality of their performance.

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