Page 3208 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 20 August 2019
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advance in 2014-15, just six days before the end of that financial year. If it is meant to be a contingency, I find it very hard to believe that there was this desperate need a week out from the end of the financial year. If that is the way in which the Treasurer’s advance is being expended then it looks like a back door for what really should be a front door; that is, it should be appropriated through the agencies rather than going through the Treasurer’s advance.
MR BARR (Kurrajong—Chief Minister, Treasurer, Minister for Social Inclusion and Equality, Minister for Tertiary Education, Minister for Tourism and Special Events and Minister for Trade, Industry and Investment) (5.15): The Treasurer’s advance is indeed a provision and it is a percentage of the budget. As the Leader of the Opposition has indicated, it is generally not fully drawn down. But it remains a provision and an important part of the territory’s financial management.
The reason for the advance not being drawn down until the end of the financial year is a requirement under the FMA that it can only be drawn down when agencies have exhausted all other sources of funding. So the Treasurer’s advance is not provided for agencies if they are holding cash that could be utilised or if they have underspends in other areas that can then be drawn upon to meet any emerging needs. It is really an instrument of last resort at the end of a fiscal year rather than something that is drawn upon throughout the year. So the policy that is in place and the requirements under the Financial Management Act largely dictate that it will only be drawn down at the conclusion of a fiscal year.
Proposed expenditure agreed to.
Capital works reserve—1.22
MR BARR (Kurrajong—Chief Minister, Treasurer, Minister for Social Inclusion and Equality, Minister for Tertiary Education, Minister for Tourism and Special Events and Minister for Trade, Industry and Investment) (5.17): The capital works reserve is a new element within the Appropriation Bill—and, in the context of a very significant $3 billion infrastructure program over the next four years, the largest ever investment by an ACT government—which sees a very significant spend in health, in education and in other capital works priorities.
The government maintains a focus on delivering our capital works program in the most efficient and cost-effective manner. This means we are looking at ways to streamline budget and program management processes whilst maintaining accountability and transparency. So this budget includes a capital works reserve, the first time it has appeared, as an important improvement to budgeting practices.
In summary, it achieves better capital works program estimates whilst providing agencies with cash flow the flexibility to achieve the best program outcomes. It was introduced via an amendment to the Financial Management Act that was just passed by the Assembly this year and it is now incorporated into the 1996 act. It represents a significant development as a more accurate capital works program estimates and budgeting tool that provides both the community and industry with more precision in terms of the timing of our capital works activity.
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