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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 10 Hansard (13 October) . . Page.. 3035 ..

Mr Quinlan: That makes it important, then.

MR HUMPHRIES: Indeed, it is, but it is very difficult to provide - - -

Mr Berry: It is the same every year.

MR HUMPHRIES: That is quite true. The same factors are there every year, but the results can be quite different every year, depending in the case of grass cutting, for example, on how much rain we have, how often the sun shines and so on. Projecting, in effect, in September 1999 what we are going to be spending by the end of June 2000 on grass cutting is going to be a very difficult exercise indeed. Similarly, fluctuations and patterns with respect to hospital separations are going to be very difficult to project in a meaningful way in September of any given year. In fact, I suspect members will get from the exercise basically what has been in the annual budget. The budget we bring down in May projects that we will have, say, a certain number of hospital separations throughout a particular financial year. By the end of September we have some idea of whether that is working out as planned, but not a particularly significant idea. So, for figures available a few months later which have to rely substantially on those September figures, we will have to rely upon that limited information to try to project an end-of-year outcome.

I have to ask members: Is that really very useful and does it justify the extra cost we engage in to achieve that result? There is very little likelihood, I am advised, that the figures available in that form could be incorporated into the budget papers with the necessary quality control processes that are needed to go through in the production of such a large document. There would certainly be costs involved in providing the information in the budget papers. The estimates of the end-of-year performance outcome could be improved somewhat by more sophisticated modelling, systems or projections on the demand for services. That certainly is possible. However, the cost would be, I am advised, in the order of $100,000 to improve - - -

Mr Berry: Did you tell them to say that?

MR HUMPHRIES: I know that Mr Berry intrinsically says that everything you say in this place is a lie. That is the way that Mr Berry operates, Mr Speaker. But I have not gone to my department and said, "I want you to make a case out here for why this is going to cost an arm and a leg". I went to the department and said, "What do you think of this legislation?". The department came back to me with a submission saying, "We think you should argue against it. Here are the reasons and this is the cost".

Mr Berry: Rubbish.

MR HUMPHRIES: I am used to you calling me a liar, Mr Berry, and you can go ahead and do that, if you want. I am telling the Assembly that I have asked my department for an estimate of the cost and the department has told me the cost would be in the order of $100,000 to provide - - -

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