Questions on Notice Over a Number of Years
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Supplementary Budget Estimates hearing – 20 November 2013 Question on Notice No.1 – Charter Letters Senator Faulkner asked on 20 November 2013, Hansard page 10: Will the Charter Letters (to Ministers) be made public? Response: There is no intent to make Charter Letters public at this time. Supplementary Budget Estimates Hearing – 20 November 2013 Question On Notice No. 2 – Charter Letter Dates Senator Farrell asked on 20 November 2013, Hansard page 12: Carrying on from that point that Senator Faulkner made, is there a difference between those dates? In other words, was a letter sent prior to that date? Response: The Prime Minister’s Charter Letter to Senator the Hon David Johnston was dated 18 September 2013. The Department of Defence published the allocation of portfolio responsibilities for staff information on 18 November 2013. Defence officials were aware of the broad responsibilities in the intervening period. Supplementary Budget Estimates hearing - 20 November 2013 Question on Notice No. 3 - Ministerial Offices Funding Senator Farrell asked on 20 November 2013, Hansard pages 12-13: ( 1) Has there been any specific Defence funding set aside for operating costs of ministerial offices? (2) Can you advise on the administrative arrangements and budgets for hospitality for the ministerial offices? (3) Have Ministers or their offices used departmental funds for hospitality purposes? Response: (1) In this financial year (FY 2013-14), $0.715m has been budgeted for ministerial office expenditure to cover the normal operating costs for the Ministers and Parliamentary Secretary. This budget allocation is in line with previous years and is intended to cover such items and expenditure for general office costs, official hospitality and gifts, information and communications technology (ICT) services, transport, stationery and other office equipment, printing, publications and other miscellaneous goods and services. As an indication of expenditure against budget for the previous three years, the table below shows total office expenditure for that period (GST exclusive) against budget funding of$0.715m: Financial Year Total Expenditure Costs (GST excl)- all offices 2010-11 $611,526.47 2011-12 $755,680.94 2012-13 $578,121.16 In addition to the amount allocated for normal operating costs, an additional $0.400m has been budgeted to cover such costs associated with office fit-outs at Parliament House and interstate ministerial offices required as a result of the recent Federal election. Office fit out costs include costs for removalists, ICT cabling services for the installation of Defence ICT networks (Protected and Secret), physical security upgrade costs (new locks, new alarms etc), the purchase of any new additional or alternative office furniture and fittings that are beyond the standard fit-out provided by the Department of Finance and the Department of Parliamentary Services. This is a home department responsibility as outlined in the Ministers ofState Entitlements handbook issued by the Department of Finance. (2) All expenditure for official hospitality and gifts for the ministerial offices is undertaken in accordance with the Financial Management Accountability (FMA) Act Regulation 9, chapter 6 from Defence's Financial Management Manual number 5 (FINMAN 5) and in accordance with procedures set out in Defence Instructions (General) Personnel (Dl(G) PERS) 25-7 Gifts, Hospitality and Sponsorship. All hospitality expenditure for the Ministers and Parliamentary Secretary is recorded in Defence's Financial Management Information System (ROMAN). Expenditure is reported within the department each month via the Chief Financial Officer's Certificate of Compliance requirements. Hospitality expenditure is reported to each ministerial office, via the Office Manager and Departmental Liaison Officers, on a monthly basis and reported to the Ministers and Parliamentary Secretary on a quarterly basis. The funding for official hospitality is drawn down from the budget that has been allocated to the offices to cover their normal operating costs. Defence has reported on ministerial hospitality costs to the Senate in response to questions on notice over a number of years. (3) For the period 7 September 2013 to 30 November 2013, Defence has provided details in response to Senate Question on Notice No. 105. No hospitality expenditure has been incurred by the Assistant Minister for Defence or the Parliamentary Secretary. Supplementary Budget Estimates hearing - 20 November 2013 Question on Notice No. 4 - Departmental Liaison Officers Senator Ludwig asked on 20 November 2013, Hansard page 13: Has there been any turnover to date of Departmental Liaison Officers (DLOs) within the ministerial offices - in other words, those who have come on? I am interested to know whether there has been any turnover and how many in each office. Response: Yes. One DLO in the office of the Minister for Defence and two in the office of the Assistant Minister for Defence. Supplementary Budget Estimates hearing – 20 November 2013 Question on Notice No. 5 – Deferred Measures Senator Fawcett asked on 20 November 2013, Hansard page 18: (1) Senator FAWCETT: Do you have a record of the bow wave for those deferrals of maintenance, future programs or things like base security? That creates a bow wave of investment that is still required, and an incoming government clearly needs to be aware not only of our plans for future capability but of maintaining what we have and understanding what the backlog of payment is. Have you made any attempt to quantify the flow-on effects of either those budget cuts or the $4.1 billion of absorbed measures in terms of the additional costs that this government will now have to cover in order to fix the backlog of things that have been deferred from the last five years? Mr Prior: If we take as our reference point the 2009 white paper—because you mentioned 2009—we do have an accumulated calculation of the impact of moving projects and activities to later years across a 10-year period or as required. Senator FAWCETT: Are you able to provide those to the committee? Mr Prior: I can provide whatever the committee requests. I would not like to give you a number off the top of my head; I would like to give you a precise answer in accordance with what you have asked. We do maintain a budget profile that goes out, as you can imagine, across the future years, and we can provide the committee with information about how the budget has moved since that original 2009 reference point, if that is what you are after, out across the forward 10 years. (2) Senator FAWCETT: That would be very useful. Would you also be able to say either now or as part of your answer on notice whether those figures take into account the cost growth pressures that were identified by Mr Pappas in his audit of the Defence budget such that we can understand whether or not those figures represent what is actually required in today's dollars to address the requirements Defence has? Mr Prior: Yes. Since the Pappas audit we have maintained growth indexes for all our various categories. They are built into this calculation, so they will be part and parcel of the answer. We will make clear what those rates are so you can see those transparently. Senator FAWCETT: Thank you. Response: (1) Since the 2009 White Paper, Defence has been required to reduce its call on the Government Budget by a net $9.7 billion over the eight year period 2009-10 to 2016-17 (the end of the current Forward Estimates). In addition to this, Defence was required to cancel or reprogram about $6.0 billion in planned activities to beyond the Forward Estimates period to rebalance the Defence Budget. Thus, in total, Defence has, at the request of the Government, reprogrammed or cancelled $15.7 billion of activity that was planned over the period 2009-2010 to 2016-17 in the 2009 White Paper. The spreadsheet at Attachment A provides a category breakdown of these adjustments. Additionally Defence has offset around $8 billion of budget pressures that have arisen since the 2009 White Paper (not shown in spreadsheet). (2) The 2008 Defence Budget Audit undertaken by Mr George Pappas recommended growth indices for Defence’s main budget categories as follows: • Military equipment, acquisition and sustainment - 3.5% growth in real terms to maintain and replace Defence’s existing military equipment as at 2008, and 4.2% growth in real terms per annum to deliver the capabilities proposed in the recommended Force Structure Option within the 2008 Force Structure Review (that fed into the 2009 White Paper); • Personnel costs - 0.4% growth in real terms per annum to sustain Defence’s workforce numbers as at 2008. Any further growth in personnel numbers beyond this would require additional growth in real funding; and • Facilities and other operating costs - 0.7% growth in real terms per annum. Taking this into account, the previous Government, as part of the 2009 White Paper, agreed to a Defence funding model which included: • 3 per cent real growth in the Defence budget to 2017-18; • 2.2 per cent real growth in the Defence budget from 2018-19 to 2030; and • 2.5 per cent fixed indexation to the Defence budget from 2009-10 to 2030. However, the agreed funding model was overtaken by subsequent budgets. Attachment A APPROPRIATION HANDBACKS PAES 2009-10 TO PRESENT 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 Total 09-10 to 16-17 $m $m $m $m $m $m $m $m $m Handback to Government - PBS 10-11 0 -4 -52 -80 657 0 0 -521 0 - PBS 11-12 0 1596 175 516 700 1325 -368 -537 3,407 - PAES 11-12 0 0 0 60 64 66 72 74 336 - PBS 12-13 0 0 0 97116311143170905,454 - PBS 13-14 0000-400-1600-4002200-200 - Economic Update 13-14 0000-359-304891000426 - MYEFO 13-14 000011.94643.67388.154119.899264 0 1,592 123 1,467 2,305 674 1,190 2,336 9,687 Reduced Budget Spend -99 158 194 -460 242 3,213 1,801 928 5,979 Total Application 15,666 Note: + equates to reduction in Defence budget; - equates to increase in Defence budget Supplementary Budget Estimates Hearing - 20 November 2013 Question on Notice No.6 - SOP's for Towback at sea Senator Furner asked on 20 November 2013, Hansard page 22: 1.