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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 6 Hansard (25 May) . . Page.. 1774 ..

MR HUMPHRIES (continuing):

or whatever it might be-and we are given the recommendations on the day that the Assembly debates the budget, obviously we cannot possibly respond to them.

Mr Moore: We can apply them to the following year.

MR HUMPHRIES: We can apply them to the following year, if that is what the Assembly wants us to do in a long-term sense; but anything for this budget obviously cannot be done and the response will have to come some time later. A considered response presumably would come in the August sittings, which would be well after the budget has been passed. Members should be aware of that. It is not a particularly good comment on the Estimates Committee process if, in that sense, it so devalues recommendations that we do not have any chance to deal with them. We cannot take them seriously.

MR CORBELL (11.20), in reply: I understand the concern of the government. The committee is very conscious of the tight timeframe that this motion will place on the government. Let me put in context the reason for the committee's decision. First of all, we were advised that the government intends to bring on the Appropriation Bill for debate on the Thursday of the sitting week, the Tuesday being required to pass GST transitional arrangements bills. For that reason, we felt that there was some capacity for a couple of extra days.

Mr Humphries: Who said that?

MR CORBELL: Let me get to the nub of the question. The gentleman can claim that that is not correct, but that was our understanding. It was an understanding taken in good faith. Certainly, there was nothing political in that. The real issue here is the length of time given to the Estimates Committee to do its work. The government has set aside three weeks for the Estimates Committee to-

Mr Humphries: No, the Assembly set it aside.

MR CORBELL: The government proposed, and the Assembly agreed, the setting aside of three weeks for the Estimates Committee to do its work. It emerged quickly when members of the Estimates Committee sat down to look at how we were going to arrange our workload that a week and a half was not available for sitting because some members were away on other committee work.

It appears to be the practice in this place that other committees continue their work while the Estimates Committee meets. That may be something we need to reflect on and change in the future, but the current situation is that members of the Estimates Committee continue their work as members of standing committees of this place even when the Estimates Committee has been formed to examine the budget.

That meant that we had a week and a half to examine all departments and put together a report. That is a very tight timeframe. It is an extremely tight timeframe, particularly for the members of the committee secretariat who, obviously, prepare the draft reports for me and for other members of the committee.

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