Page 2655 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 23 June 2009
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
Auditor-General that, whilst there are various numbers, and the one to nine is one that is used, and there are obviously diminishing marginal returns, there is clear evidence that a well-performing audit office conducts its performance audits and makes recommendations to government. If the government takes those recommendations seriously and makes the changes, we will see savings; we will see savings and we will see efficiencies.
We have a government that actually has no ideas on how to find savings and efficiencies. It has put it all off. You would think that the Auditor-General could play a very important role going forward for a government that is so bereft of ideas on this issue; the Auditor-General could actually play the government’s role. A government that believes it is doing a reasonable job and wants to do better would have no fear of a well-funded Auditor-General’s office, because it would be assistance in its armoury. It would be another way for a government that was serious about finding savings and efficiencies to actually find those savings and efficiencies.
But what we have instead from the Chief Minister when the Auditor-General recommends changes, when the Auditor-General makes recommendations that do not always cast the government in a good light, is to go after the Auditor-General. It is completely the wrong approach to governance. The Chief Minister should take on board those recommendations, respond to those recommendations in a reasonable way, take on the ones that the government see will help them become more effective and more efficient, instead of attacking the credibility of the Auditor-General and making veiled threats about cutting funding. It is a disgraceful response that is part of a pattern of attacking the umpire.
We believe very much in the importance of the role of the Auditor-General, and we believe that the Auditor-General does need to be adequately funded so that the government can function more efficiently; a government that clearly is struggling to at the moment. (Time expired.)
MR HANSON (Molonglo) (11.35): It has been a very informative debate today, and many of the members who have spoken have made some very wise points. So it does really leave it to me to try and find more to say about such an important issue here that has been covered so extensively.
I would like to thank Ms Le Couteur for the comments that she has made about the importance of the Auditor-General—her role, the necessity that she provides to our democratic functions, to examining the performance of organisations and how accountable they are and indeed the efficiency of those organisations. The point you make about the nine times dividend I thought was very informative.
Indeed, when it comes to the delivery of services, none can probably be more important in our community than that of the Ambulance Service. It is there directly to save lives, and the recent audit report that was delivered by the Auditor-General does demonstrate to us clearly the effective role that she can provide to us in examining the delivery of services and how they can be improved.
The bulk of the debate that has been had here today has been on the independence of the Auditor-General, the actions of Mr Stanhope, the funding the auditor is receiving
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .