Page 2823 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 24 June 2009
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In a global financial crisis it seems extraordinary that a government should be cutting its audit functions. When we are looking at increasing capacity to ensure that we get good value for money it would be the last place that we would be cutting. We have to look at this for what it is. It is the Chief Minister who is really unhappy about what the Auditor-General says to the community about the quality of services in the ACT and the quality of funding that she receives to provide those services.
It is on the public record—two estimates committees in a row—that the Auditor-General has come to this Assembly and said, “I am underfunded and I cannot continue to do my work properly.” I was a member of the estimates committee last year when she said: “I can’t keep staff because we can’t pay them enough. I’ve become a training ground for other audit offices. I train people up and I get them to a particular level of seniority and experience. Other audit offices and other audit organisations can pay them more and they move on and I have to start again.”
All of these things affect the quality of audit in the ACT government. The Chief Minister does not care. He did not care when he was the Treasurer and he does not care now. It all culminated on Friday when he was put under pressure about a very adverse finding from the Auditor-General’s Office. He had a political aneurism and a most disgraceful outburst against the Auditor-General. It is time that this Chief Minister got on top of his emotional outbursts and remembered his position in the ACT.
As Mr Seselja said, the Liberal opposition cannot support this amendment from the Greens. It is time that the Greens started to negotiate openly with people. If they want to change things, they should come to us and talk to us and give us some suggestions. They should not just come into the chamber and drop amendments like this and expect everyone to come on board.
It is interesting, however, that the Chief Minister is prepared to support this amendment. I would have thought that he would not be able to support the amendment because part (3) calls on the ACT government to ensure adequate funding for the office of the Auditor-General, including the capacity to maintain the current level of performance audits. By signing up to this, Chief Minister, you are going to have to agree to increase the funding of the Auditor-General’s Office in the next financial year so that she can do at least eight performance audits. I would like to see that happen.
MS BURCH (Brindabella) (11.22): I am speaking here today mainly on the motion from Mr Seselja. His motion implies that the government does not value the work of the Auditor-General or appreciate the independent advice and recommendations her office provides. This is just not the case. This government holds the ACT Auditor-General’s Office in the highest regard.
The Auditor-General has a statutory mandate to audit public sector agencies and undertake financial and performance audits. The Auditor-General Act ensures that the Auditor-General and the audit office are independent and are not subject to direction from the executive or a minister.
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