Page 697 - Week 02 - Thursday, 10 March 2011
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the proposed appropriation bill and what else needs to be done to ensure the best possible outcomes.
Our proposal is that the standing committees undertake the inquiry into the proposed expenditure. The standing committees already inquire into the annual reports provided by departments and agencies and scrutinise the expenditure of money appropriated. It makes sense that they should also be the ones to inquire into the proposed future funding, given that they have the best knowledge of whether or not the proposed recipient did a good job with the money that was allocated to them the previous year.
The standing committees have a significant level of expertise in the portfolios they are responsible for. The Assembly should be capitalising on that. We are a small Assembly and it makes sense that we use the skills and experience available to us to the greatest extent possible. If we are serious about delivering scrutiny and using our very limited resources wisely, it makes sense to spread the load across the existing structure best equipped to take it, rather than creating a new committee and concentrating the work amongst members who do not necessarily have the same level of knowledge and expertise as their colleagues.
There will no doubt be a range of proposed expenditure decisions that necessarily require a thorough understanding in quite a high level of detail. All non-executive members spend a very significant amount of our time undertaking committee inquiries on the respective portfolios. We all spend hours reading annual reports so that we can undertake annual report inquiries. Surely it makes sense to build on that work and provide a more thorough evaluation of the budget.
This change comes about from a recommendation from last year’s select committee report which recommended the evaluation of the select committee model and consideration of options for reform and improvements to that process. Whilst there have been no clear views expressed by the administration and procedure committee on this matter, it is clear from the work that has been done by the committee that there are a range of other options available and that other parliaments use them very successfully.
Most notable, of course, is the Senate, which uses the equivalent of what I will be proposing today. I have not heard any significant criticism of the Senate process and I have not heard people wanting to move in favour of the single committee model we have here. I will take the opportunity at this point to move the amendment that has been circulated in my name. I move:
Omit all words after “That”, substitute:
(1) the expenditure proposals contained in the Appropriation Bill 2011-2012 and any revenue estimates proposed by the Government in the 2011-2012 Budget, on presentation, stand referred to the standing committees in accordance with the schedule below;
(2) where expenditure proposals or revenue estimates proposed by Government are not specified in this schedule, the Standing Committee on Public Accounts will have the authority to inquire or refer the matter to another standing committee;
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