Page 1760 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 1 May 2012
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ACT Auditor-General’s Office for each of the financial years from 2012-13 to 2015-16. The committee notes that on each occasion throughout the Seventh Assembly when it has considered the annual budget submission of the Auditor-General, it has recommended, without success, that the office be funded to support growth in the performance audit function. The committee is firmly of the view that the Assembly and the ACT community would be served well by the cost-effectiveness of such an investment in terms of its contribution towards, firstly, strengthening accountability for government performance and, secondly, identifying improvements in public administration and delivery of services.
The committee also notes that its repeated requests for additional funding are supported. Firstly, compared to other jurisdictions, the ACT audit office is significant in having a strong performance audit mandate as provided by legislation. Secondly, performance auditing plays an important role in governance and accountability. This is on the basis that financial auditing provides some assurance at a point of time, but it does not provide audited agencies, parliament or communities with any assurances about the government’s service performance. Performance auditing provides such assurances. Thirdly, increasingly, on this basis, parliaments should seek to support growth in their respective Auditor-General’s performance audit functions.
The committee is pleased that a funding model supporting growth in the performance audit program is proposed to be initiated as part of the 2012-13 budget and looks forward to the ACT Auditor-General’s Office being funded to support an extended performance audit project.
Adjournment
Motion (by Mr Corbell) proposed:
That the Assembly do now adjourn.
Parkwood chapel open day
Giralang-Kaleen men’s shed
MR COE (Ginninderra) (5.51): I would like to take the opportunity to say a few words about the Parkwood chapel open day, which was held as part of Heritage Week activities last month. On 16 April Zed Seselja and I went along to the open day to see firsthand the work that has been done to restore this heritage-listed chapel, acknowledged as the first Methodist church established in the district.
This was a rare opportunity to view the heritage-listed chapel, which was built in 1880 by Canberra district pioneer Thomas Southwell. Thomas Southwell arrived in Australia in 1838 and came to the Ginninderra Creek area with his family in 1840. His first residence was known as Palmerville. Thomas was a staunch Wesleyan and began holding prayer meetings and church services in his home. When his home became too small, he built a slab church, which he replaced in 1880 with a granite building which became known as Parkwood.
Since 1906 the Southwell family has gathered at Parkwood on a number of occasions, and the chapel has undergone a number of restorations. The most recent restoration,
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