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Estimates 26 June 2007

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Estimates 26 June 2007 The Estimates Committee of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly convened at 8.30 am. Mr CHAIRMAN: I call the Committee to order. Good morning, everyone. As Chairman of the Estimates Committee, I formally declare open this meeting of the Estimates Committee of the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory on this Tuesday 26 June 2007, and I extend a welcome to everyone present. While this is the 6th sitting of the Estimates Committee and procedures adopted throughout the sittings have become accepted practice, there are a number of areas regarding the conduct of the public hearings I should place on record. I table a copy of the Resolution of the Legislative Assembly dated 20 June 2007 which refers to the Schedule of the Appropriation Bill No 2 2007-08 and related budget documents. The role of the committee is to now examine and report on the estimates of proposed expenditure contained in that bill. Members of the Public Accounts Committee are considered to be members of the Estimates Committee. Other members of the Assembly may participate in the public hearings provided that the composition of the committee never exceeds seven members. The membership shall always consist of three government members, three opposition members and one Independent member. To assist Hansard, I will advise the membership of the committee at the commencement of every session, and I will acknowledge for the record when there is a change of membership of the committee throughout the hearings. At the first meeting of the Estimates Committee, the member for Port Darwin, Ms Kerry Sacilotto, was appointed Deputy Chair of the committee in accordance with paragraph 8 of the Terms of Reference. The committee has accepted the Standing Orders Committee suggestion that a minister should restrict their opening remarks to a maximum of five minutes. Members will be in a position to question the minister or Speaker on issues that may have been raised in the opening remarks, but where an issue can be directly related to a particular output within the budget, that matter can only be addressed through the interrogation of individual output groups as they relate to the appropriate portfolios of the agency. I advise that representatives of the media are present and are able to report and rebroadcast proceedings of this hearing, having obtained written permission from the Speaker in accordance with paragraph 32 of the Terms of Reference. To clarify the operations of the committee over the next four days, I advise that in accordance with the resolution of the Assembly, particulars of proposed expenditure contained in the Appropriation Bill (No 2) 2007-08 will be considered Output Group by Output Group, and Output by Output within each Output Group. I wish to place on the record that members of the committee have reviewed the schedule of appearance over the last three years, paying particular attention to areas within agencies that may not have been provided adequate appearance time before the committee to date. As a result of this review, and by mutual agreement between all members of the committee, the decision has been taken to allocate priority status to the Darwin Port Corporation. I will address this matter when the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport appears before the committee on Thursday 28 June 2007. As there is a total of 45 hours which has been scheduled for ministers and agency officers to appear before this committee, I take this opportunity to remind all members it is incumbent upon them to maximise their time over the next four days so that all agencies are provided with a time frame which will enable thorough investigation of specific issues within their particular Output Groups. The order of Output Groups is set out in the schedule of ministers’ appearances which has been provided to all members. Over the next four days of public hearings, we will work through this document as the agenda for the Estimates Committee. It should also be noted that to allow questions to be addressed to ministers with principal administrative responsibility for particular portfolio areas, it has been necessary to set out in the schedule so that it varies somewhat from the listing of agencies in Budget Paper No 3. Where a 1 Estimates Committee 2007/Speaker Aagaard minister will be available for questioning on Output Groups that sit within other portfolios, these have been clearly identified in the schedule, and I will be reinforcing the fact that questions regarding those particular Output Groups need to be addressed at the time the minister is appearing before the committee as once an Output Group has been completed, it will not be revisited. The previously accepted method of allocating questions throughout the public hearings has worked well in the past and the same process will be adopted during these Estimate Committee hearings. I propose to invite shadow ministers to ask their questions first followed by members of the committee, Independent members and, finally, members addressing electorate issues. Procedures for dealing with questions taken on notice are contained in the Estimates Committee Information Manual 2007, copies of which are available at the back of the room. I take this opportunity to reinforce the importance of the process I will be adopting when a question is taken on notice. When a minister or the Speaker indicates that they are unable to answer a particular question during the committee process or that they will provide the answer at a later time, I will immediately request the member who raised the matter to clearly and concisely restate the question. This will allow agency officers who are present to note salient points of the topic at the same time as the question is being relayed to the minister or Speaker. This process will also assist Hansard and the committee secretariat staff when they come to processing the formal question for the chairman’s signature. I will then ask the minister or Speaker if he or she accepts the question taken on notice. If it is accepted, I will immediately allocate a portfolio specific number, which will clearly identify that particular question. Agency officers and ministerial staff should take note of the question number and ensure it is clearly identified in any response tabled by the minister during the public hearing process or at some later date. It is proposed that there will only be a half-hour for meal breaks over the period of the public hearings. We will be breaking between 1300 and 1330, 1 pm and 1.30 pm, for lunch and 1800 and 1830, which is 6 pm to 6.30 pm, for dinner during these public hearings. The schedule of questioning will be strictly adhered to. In the event that questioning of a portfolio concludes before the allocated time, the next minister will not commence before their scheduled time. There are many agency officers involved in these hearings and the last thing the Estimates Committee wants to be responsible for is a feeling of uncertainty as to when officers may be called to assist their minister during the questioning process. Witnesses should be aware that evidence given to the committee is protected by parliamentary privilege. However, I remind witnesses that the giving of false or misleading evidence to the committee may constitute a contempt of the Legislative Assembly pursuant to powers and privileges legislation. Officers should also be aware that when they are requested by their minister to provide answers to questions, they are not required to comment on matters of policy. For the purposes of the efficient recording of Hansard, I request that ministers and the Speaker introduce those officials who are accompanying them at these hearings, and that where a minister or the Speaker may refer a question to an officer, the officers clearly identify themselves at that time for the Hansard record. I take this opportunity to thank staff from the Legislative Assembly and Committee Secretariat staff who have worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make sure the operation of the whole Estimates Committee process can be delivered in an effective and efficient manner. The committee will now proceed with consideration of the estimates of proposed expenditure for the Department of the Legislative Assembly in accordance with the schedule. First, I should notify Hansard of the members of the committee here this morning: Mr Gerry Wood, member for Nelson; Mr Ted Warren, member for Goyder; Ms Kerry Sacilotto, member for Port Darwin; Ms Jodeen Carney, Leader of the Opposition and member for Araluen; and Dr Richard Lim, member for Greatorex; I believe Mr Terry Mills will be coming shortly but will be seated here, and myself as Chair. I welcome Madam Speaker and invite her to introduce the officials accompanying her. In relation to the proposed expenditure contained within the Appropriation Bill 2007-08, Madam Speaker, do you have an opening statement? 2 Estimates Committee 2007/Speaker Aagaard DEPARTMENT OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY Madam SPEAKER: Mr Chairman, first, I would like to introduce the staff who are accompanying me: the Clerk of the Assembly, Mr Ian McNeill; the Deputy Clerk, Mr David Horton; Mr Rex Schoolmeester, the Chief Financial Officer; and Ms Vicki Long, Director of Parliamentary Services. I am pleased to report that my department has achieved its programmed outcomes within the financial allocation, adjusted throughout the period to compensate for wage increases, CPI and variations to members’ entitlements by the Remuneration Tribunal Determination. I would like to draw your attention to the department’s Portfolio Budget Statement, which I tabled last week in parliament. This document, produced annually, has proved to be a useful planning tool for the department as well as providing detailed financial performance information.
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