Page 1129 - Week 03 - Thursday, 22 March 2012
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MR SPEAKER: Members, thank you. Ms Gallagher, let us focus on the question at hand. Members, let us quieten down the interjections, thank you.
MS GALLAGHER: It is not unusual for government officers to be providing support to ministers out of hours. Indeed, it is our job and senior officers’ job to be available for that work at all times.
MR SPEAKER: Mr Coe, a supplementary question.
MR COE: Yes, Mr Speaker. Minister, the Labor Party made a series of announcements on transport after the email which sought feedback. Were these two issues related?
MS GALLAGHER: I cannot answer that, Mr Coe, because I was not the minister responsible for the transport policy at that time. I was not indeed the Treasurer at that time, so it would be very difficult for me to answer that question, other than to say that we took a very rigorous analysis going into the election campaign about ensuring that our costings were accurate and that we were going to be able to deliver on them—unlike the opposition, who did not subject themselves to that sort of scrutiny. We were very clear that we wanted—and we took advice from the Treasury—accurate costings for the commitments we made going forward.
MR HARGREAVES: Supplementary, Mr Speaker.
MR SPEAKER: Yes, Mr Hargreaves.
MR HARGREAVES: Chief Minister, is the service of having potential policies costed by Treasury available to the opposition, and have they availed themselves of that service if it is?
MS GALLAGHER: As members would know, yes, it is. The opposition, as I understood it, made use of that, although they argued with aspects of it. They had some unusual costings in their election campaign. They had things like—what were they called in health—surge beds, I think. They had surge ICU beds that would only operate a couple of times a year when they were needed. So there were some interesting ways that the Canberra Liberals submitted their costings and had them interpreted. But it brings home the importance of getting the election costings bill debated in this place.
Mr Seselja: Yes, we need to fix this dodginess, don’t we?
MS GALLAGHER: I was the one that actually determined that that was the right way to go; to tighten up procedures so that the responsibilities that are on every member in this place in the lead-up to the election in 2012 are clear. I think it is still an exposure draft. It needs to get through the committee. It needs to get into this place for debate. It needs to happen soon so that everybody knows what the expectations are going into the election. I look forward to the opposition’s wholehearted support for that legislation.
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