Page 1055 - Week 04 - Thursday, 21 May 2020
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August this year. In addition, the committee has reported on two references from the Assembly, on residential and commercial rates; and another Auditor-General’s report, on WorkSafe ACT’s management of Mr Fluffy demolitions.
Since the review report, the committee has also conducted an inquiry into supplementary appropriations, as well as the usual committee business of inquiring into annual reports. The committee is quite aware that it undertakes inquiries according to the resources available. It is axiomatic that if there were more resources there would be more inquiries.
In considering a possible model for the future public accounts committees of the Assembly, the committee recommends that the membership be greater, allowing subcommittees to be formed to undertake more inquiries, which could run simultaneously. The main committee would inquire into larger matters of note, while the subcommittees would inquire into matters which were more routine.
In this model the position of deputy chair would be given greater responsibility—that is, to chair subcommittees—and should therefore rightly be remunerated for that role. This would align more closely with the structure and operation of public accounts committees across the commonwealth. As far as the committee is aware, the ACT Standing Committee on Public Accounts has the smallest membership of any committee in Australia. This has a limiting effect on what it has been able to do in any one Assembly.
The committee also discussed whether, in its extended form, the public accounts committee should also take on the role of an estimates committee, but there was no real consensus on that point.
Correspondence from you, Madam Speaker, received by the committee, has asked for a view as to whether bills should be referred to committees of the Assembly more often than is the case. The committee agreed that it was in favour of more frequent referrals of bills, so long as committees retained a discretion whether or not to inquire, as is the current arrangement under which all reports of the Auditor-General are referred to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts. The committee also noted that such referrals would be resource intensive and there would need to be an appetite to resource the committee office appropriately.
Report 11
MRS DUNNE (Ginninderra) (10.56): I present the following report:
Public Accounts—Standing Committee—Report 11—Tender for the sale of Block 30 Dickson, dated 21 May 2020, including dissenting comments (Ms Cheyne and Ms Cody), together with a copy of the extracts of the relevant minutes of proceedings for Report 11 and Report 12.
I move:
That the report be noted.
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