Page 770 - Week 02 - Thursday, 10 March 2011
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I have taken this action as the issue of election commitment costings is one that directly affects all members given that it plays a critical role in an election process. So in the interests of introducing a bill that provides a robust and equitable framework that balances the needs of politicians and the electorates in a cost-effective manner I am seeking your feedback.
To date, prior to each election, Treasury has been costing election commitments in accordance with an agreed government process. This bill is a positive initiative for the territory as it formalises and improves the election commitment costing process. It provides transparency of process so that politicians and the electorate understand how costings are requested and the basis for those costings. It provides a degree of third-party review to the election commitment costings and gives assurance to the ACT electorate that the costs are materially correct.
The bill provides that any party or independent MLA who currently holds a seat in the Legislative Assembly can request an election commitment costing. New South Wales is the only other jurisdiction with legislation that is as inclusive. It is proposed that Treasury undertake the costing of election commitments. An understanding of territory costs, policies and programs is required in order to undertake such costings. The government considers that Treasury has the requisite expertise and is best placed from both a skills and cost efficiency perspective to undertake these costings.
The bill also allows a party or independent MLA to choose whether to request a costing of one of its publicly announced election commitments by Treasury. The bill deliberately does not mandate that a costing must be requested so as not to infringe on a party’s or an independent MLA’s right to decide whether a costing is warranted, feasible or desirable.
It is proposed that costing requests can only be made for publicly announced commitments. This recognises that the pre-election period will present a unique challenge for Treasury when other parties have access to the department for costing purposes. So limiting costing requests safeguards the integrity of the Treasury by ensuring it only has access to public policies of parties or independent MLAs.
Under the bill, the party or an independent MLA cannot request a costing for a publicly announced election commitment of another party. One of the fundamental principles of the proposed process is that Treasury provides costings based on detailed information provided to it by the owner of the commitment. This is to minimise misunderstandings about the election commitment and ensure the accuracy of information upon which the costing is provided by the Treasury. Another party or independent MLA would not have the requisite knowledge necessarily of another party’s or independent MLA’s election commitment.
The bill prescribes the key elements of the election commitment costing process. To support the bill and to provide the underlying details, guidelines have been produced that contain the principles and processes to be followed by the relevant parties, independent MLAs and Treasury when costing election commitments. These draft guidelines ensure that the roles and responsibilities of public servants are clear and unambiguous during the election period and that government departments are objective and non-partisan.
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