Page 1102 - Week 03 - Thursday, 22 March 2012
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register. I do note the reference in the minister’s presentation speech to implementing even more streamlining of these administrative processes. This is a matter which I am sure the public accounts committee will consider carefully as we see the effect of these current amendments.
The third amendment will clarify the period during which the text of a contract must remain public. At present there is an anomaly in the act relating to the period during which a notifiable contract is to remain accessible to the public. This amendment will clarify that an electronic copy of a notifiable contract will be available to the public for at least two years after the contract has ended.
There is one matter relating to the amendments that I should raise with the minister. By clause 10, a new section (2) will be added to section 38. This new section will add two definitions to this section. I note, however, that the words contained in one of these definitions, the definition of “confidential text”, are not used in this section. Perhaps the minister could explain why this definition is being included at this point in the act.
There is one further procurement matter on which I wish to make some comments. Members will recall that information came to light recently about an invoice which had been submitted by a supplier and had remained unpaid for 2,043 days, or more than five years over the objective of paying bills within 30 days. In the report in the Canberra Times on this matter on 12 February 2012, the Treasurer is reported to have said:
… interest was not paid on the overdue bill because the company did not request compensation …
In this regard, Mr Barr is paraphrasing section 45(1) of the Government Procurement Act 2001. I now direct Mr Barr’s attention to section 45(2) of this act. Perhaps I should read it for his edification:
The Territory or the Territory entity is liable to pay the creditor a further amount by way of interest on the amount of the account that remains unpaid from time to time.
The question I have for the Treasurer—the minister who presumably understands the intricacies of the Financial Management Act as well as the Government Procurement Act, amongst others—is this: when will the government comply with section 45(2) in relation to the invoice that was outstanding? It is quite clear that, while subsection (1) requires the creditor to make a request before any action can follow, subsection (2) places no such requirement on the creditor. On the contrary, the requirement for action is indeed placed on the territory.
I assume that Mr Barr and his directorate have determined the amount that is due to the creditor. I would be interested to know what the quantum of this payment is, as I have not attempted to work through the rules of the Supreme Court to work out the amount. I would also be interested to know when the payment either has been or will be made to the creditor.
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