Page 3189 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 22 August 2012
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detail—the ACTION cost pressures inside the Territory and Municipal Services’ draw-down on the Treasurer’s advance was $7 million out of the $8 million. The actual cost for the Queen’s visit was $30,000 and that for the President of the USA was $86,000. So overwhelmingly we see a huge blow-out, yet again, in this government’s management of the ACTION bus service.
In the Health Directorate we see cost pressures at Calvary worth $7 million, and the perennial in the Justice and Community Safety Directorate of $2 million for the Emergency Services Agency. It is several years in a row now that the Emergency Services Agency have blown their budget. It was not a particularly big season in regard to bushfires, which is often cited as the reason for the blow-out. And it really does lead to questions, particularly of Mr Corbell’s management of ESA, that we have had this string of blow-outs in the Emergency Services Agency, which, of course, provides critical services to the people of the ACT.
But yet again, the minister seems to think that returning $10 million is some sort of tribute to the management. Most of these costs, I suspect you could make a case, were not unforeseen. Clearly the $7 million in ACTION is operational. The $2 million in ESA is operational. There is almost half of what is listed as unforeseen. It is just simply providing services that they should be providing. You have got $3 million in Justice and Community Safety as well, with $2 million of that going on policing arrangements. But you have got $1 million for legal expenses on behalf of the territory. It would be interesting to get an explanation from the attorney as to what the nature of the additional $1 million on the legal expenses was.
But again, the Treasurer’s advance is there for the unexpected. It is not there for the ordinary day-to-day and operational expenses which this government seems to believe that it is there for.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
Public Accounts—Standing Committee
Paper and statement by minister
MR BARR (Molonglo—Deputy Chief Minister, Treasurer, Minister for Economic Development and Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation): For the information of members I present the following paper:
Public Accounts—Standing Committee—Report 22—Inquiry into the Road Transport (Third-Party Insurance) Amendment Bill 2011—Government response.
I ask leave to make a statement in relation to the paper.
Leave granted.
MR BARR: As members will be aware, the government’s response to the PAC report No 22—Inquiry into the Road Transport (Third-Party Insurance) Amendment Bill—was tabled out of session on 9 August, in accordance with standing order 154A. The
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