Estimates Committee Proceedings – 24 June 2003
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ESTIMATES COMMITTEE PROCEEDINGS – 24 JUNE 2003 ESTIMATES COMMITTEE - Tuesday 24 June 2003 The Estimates Committee of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly convened at 9 am. Mr CHAIRMAN: The time is now a little after 9 am, according to my watch. I declare open this meeting of the Estimates Committee of the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory on Tuesday 24 June 2003. I extend a welcome to everybody present. I intend to make some preliminary comments of a formal nature and also outline the basic procedures for the conduct of these public hearings. I table a copy of the resolution of the Legislative Assembly dated 27 February 2003 which refers to this committee. It also refers to the Schedule of the Appropriation Bill 2003-04 and related documents. The role of the committee is to determine and report on the estimates of proposed expenditure contained in that bill. This order effectively uses the current Public Accounts Committee members as the core membership of the Estimates Committee. I would also like to report that, at a meeting of the Estimates Committee on Tuesday 17 June 2003, the member for Sanderson, Mr Len Kiely, was appointed as Deputy Chairman of the committee in accordance with paragraph 8 of the terms of reference. I advise that representatives of the media present are able to report and rebroadcast proceedings of this hearing in accordance with a resolution of the committee. After the initial Estimates Committee public hearings in September last year, parliament referred the matter to the Standing Orders Committee for review of the process. The Standing Orders Committee has received representations from government, the opposition and Independents. Many submissions were received by the committee throughout the review process, and they have all had a significant impact on the overall review process. The definitive hours relating to the ministers’ appearances and the deletion of written questions are recommendations arising from that committee. The identification of key areas of concern to the Standing Orders Committee and the development of proposals to change are all aimed strengthening and enhancing the Estimate Committee process. Government has indicated that a further review of the whole of the Estimates Committee process can still occur at a later date if it is considered necessary. I will now proceed to give a brief outline of the conduct of the procedures of these hearings. In accordance with the resolution of the Assembly, particulars of proposed expenditure contained in the Appropriation Bill will be considered on an output group by output group basis, followed by an output by output basis. In accordance with the resolution of the Estimates Committee, the order of consideration will be in accordance with the schedule of ministers which has been published to members. Over the next four days of this public hearing, we will work through all the documents in regards to the committee. It should be noted that, to allow questions to be addressed to ministers with principal administrative responsibilities for particular portfolio areas, it has been necessary to set out the schedule so that it varies somewhat from the Schedule to the Appropriation Bill and the listing of agencies in Budget Paper No 3. Where a minister will be available for questioning on output groups that sit within other portfolios, these have been clearly identified in the schedule. I will be reinforcing the fact that questions regarding these particular output groups need to be addressed at the time the minister is appearing before the committee. As advised, questions will proceed on an output by output basis and, when these have been exhausted, questions including more than one output group, questions across the agency, or questions involving non-output specific budget issues will be addressed. I propose to invite shadow ministers to ask their questions first, followed by members of the committee, and then other members of the Legislative Assembly, if they are relevant questions. Bearing in mind that, under orders of the ESTIMATES COMMITTEE PROCEEDINGS – 24 JUNE 2003 parliament of 27 February, there can only ever be seven participating members of the committee at any one time. Procedures for dealing with Questions on Notice are contained in the Manual for Members of the Legislative Assembly, copies of which have been distributed throughout the room. The schedule of the committee, as approved, incorporates clear time frames for each minister. The commencement time for each minister will be strictly adhered to, so that timing should not be an issue this year. In the unlikely event of the questioning of a portfolio finishing before the allocated time, the next minister will not commence earlier than the scheduled time. Witnesses should also be aware that evidence given to the committee is protected by parliamentary privilege. However, I would remind witnesses that the giving of false or misleading evidence to the committee may constitute a contempt of the Legislative Assembly pursuant to the powers and privileges legislation. Officers should also be aware that they are not required to comment on matters in respect of policy. For the purpose of the efficient recording of the Hansard, I would request that ministers introduce those officials who are accompanying them at these hearings and that, where a minister may refer a question to an officer, that the officers clearly identify themselves at that time for the Hansard record. I would now like to take this opportunity to thank staff from the Legislative Assembly, who have worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make sure the operations of the whole of the 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. I welcome Madam Speaker and invite her to introduce the officials accompanying her and, if she wishes, to make an opening statement on behalf of the Department of the Legislative Assembly. SPEAKER’S PORTFOLIO Madam SPEAKER: Mr Chairman, I would like to introduce Ian McNeill, the Clerk of the Assembly; the Deputy Clerk, David Horton; the Director of Corporate Services, on my left, Vicki Long; and the Chief Financial Officer, Rex Schoolmeester. I welcome the opportunity to make an opening statement in which I will provide a broad picture of the department’s financial performance over the past year, detail some highlights and achievements, and forecast, to some degree, the year ahead. I will also express some areas of concern and where funding may have an impact on program outcomes. Our financial outcome for this year is considered satisfactory and, based on year to date figures at the end of May, we will complete the year within 1% of our total appropriation. I believe this is a commendable result, given that no additional funding was sought from Treasury to cover the additional costs of security following the local and national events of last year, the additional sitting hours this year, and the Alice Springs sittings. This year it has been possible, however, to offset this expenditure against other activities that did not take place. For instance, the low rate of overseas travel taken this year by members was reallocated. Conversely, however, next year it is anticipated that members taking their overseas study entitlements may increase. I should caution on the department’s ability to sustain this flexibility, however, in 2003-04, given the inability to apply the 2% dividend to areas of the agencies which are considered non-discretionary will impact on other areas of operational expenditure, as well as the full year effect in security costs and overseas travel. I reinforce there that the majority of the department’s budget is non-discretionary, with the lesser amount discretionary. While some expenditure increases remain unpredictable, the department continues to actively pursue ESTIMATES COMMITTEE PROCEEDINGS – 24 JUNE 2003 its cost management savings programs to seek greater efficiencies and savings across a range of departmental operational and administrative activities. Other efficiencies are also being considered in partnership with other State Square users, such as in the area of security and gardening and landscaping services. This past financial year, I believe, has demonstrated the need for flexibility and sound financial management; for example, a number of prominent parliamentary events have taken place. Firstly, the development and implementation of the first Estimates Committee in September 2002 which, I might add, placed extraordinary and exceptional demands on staff and resources. It is also worth noting that, with the hours consumed during the committee hearings last year, some 850 pages of transcript were produced. By comparison, a normal three day sittings produces an average of 280 pages. Therefore, you can appreciate that I am very happy to report the workplace efficiencies adopted by Hansard minimised production costs, but there was a huge amount of effort by Hansard to produce those 850 pages of transcript. The second major event was the Alice Springs sittings. It was difficult to estimate the required expenditure early in the planning process. However, I am pleased to report this was kept to a minimum, noting that we are very much in a new learning environment in respect of operating the Assembly outside of Darwin. The direct additional costs of operations were consumed mainly by the purchase of goods and services such as the hire of the facility, the provision of information services, the setting up and use of sound and vision for recording purposes, the additional security and crowd management arrangements, and the cost of transporting and accommodating staff in Alice Springs over the period. I should add that travel costs were minimised by retaining the Hansard staff in Darwin and providing sound and vision to Parliament House through a landline.