Page 1152 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 24 March 2009
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evaluated. In recommendation 3, we looked at the updated estimates for the budget process. In recommendation 3, the committee recommends that the Treasurer provide to the Legislative Assembly an update of the estimated outcome of the ACT budget for 2008-09 and for the outyears. Also, we were concerned about the proportion of spending which would be spent on plant and equipment, so our recommendation 4 is that the Treasurer provide to the Legislative Assembly a breakdown of the proportion of spending that is proposed in the Appropriation Bill 2008-2009 (No 3) that will be directed towards labour, plant and materials.
In recommendation 5, we looked at possible things that the government could spend money on. The committee recommends that any further stimulus packages should consider one-off service provision as well as capital expenditure. In recommendation 6, we looked at—
Mr Stanhope: It will take a while.
MS LE COUTEUR: I should probably say that was the major part of the recommendations as far as the general environment of the appropriation bill was concerned, and we are now moving on to more of the actual expenditure items. Given that the government was looking at some other issues as far as energy efficiency was concerned, we thought we would make a recommendation here. In recommendation 6, the committee recommends that the ACT government explore the feasibility of providing tax incentives, or other forms of incentives, and related education programs to encourage private landlords to make energy efficient modifications to their rental properties.
We then looked at the asset management plans. Given that the third appropriation bill proposes additional investment in the buildings and facilities that are used to provide services to the ACT community, the committee was of the view that the review of the agency asset management plans provides an opportunity for making the ACT environmentally more sustainable. So in recommendation 7 the committee recommends that the Department of Treasury, as part of the asset management plan refresh, ensures that ecologically sustainable development is aligned with standardised agency asset management plans.
We then looked at the urgency of this, and in recommendation 8 the committee recommends, to the extent that work is not already taking place, that the Department of Territory and Municipal Services ensure that procurement improvements, as announced in the 2008-09 ACT budget, support and facilitate—quickly and productively—the works proposed under the local initiatives package.
Continuing on the timeliness theme, the committee noted that the government had appointed a coordinator general to ensure that the federal stimulus package is completed on time. Whilst we felt that such arrangements were not appropriate for this, given the timing of the third appropriation bill, it is incumbent upon respective ministers and departmental and agency heads to ensure the completion of the proposed works on time. This led to recommendation 9, which was that the committee recommends that the Treasurer provide to the Legislative Assembly by the last sitting day in June 2009 a detailed project report on the delivery of projects under Appropriation Bill 2008-2009 (No 3).
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