The Senate Finance and Public Administration Legislation Committee Budget estimates 2017-18 June 2017 © Commonwealth of Australia 2017 ISBN 978-1-76010-595-2 Senate Finance and Public Administration Committee Secretariat: Ms Lyn Beverley (Secretary) Ms Margaret Cahill (Research Officer) Ms Nicole Baxter (Administrative Officer) The Senate PO Box 6100 Parliament House Canberra ACT 2600 Ph: 02 6277 3530 Fax: 02 6277 5809 E-mail: [email protected] Internet: www.aph.gov.au/senate_fpa This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia License. The details of this licence are available on the Creative Commons website: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/au/. Printed by the Senate Printing Unit, Parliament House, Canberra. ii Membership of the Committee Members Senator James Paterson (Chair) LP, VIC Senator Jenny McAllister (Deputy Chair) ALP, NSW Senator Kimberley Kitching ALP, VIC Senator Bridget McKenzie NAT, VIC Senator Lee Rhiannon AG, NSW Senator Dean Smith LP, WA Senators in attendance Senators Paterson (Chair), McAllister (Deputy Chair), Kitching, McKenzie, Smith, Rhiannon, Abetz, Bernardi, Bushby, Cameron, Dastyari, Dodson, Duniam, Farrell, Gallacher, Gallagher, Griff, Hanson, Hinch, Collins, Kakoschke-Moore, Lines, McCarthy, Moore, Polley, Pratt, Rice, Roberts, Siewert, Waters, Watt, Wong, Xenophon iii Table of Contents Membership of the Committee ........................................................................ iii Chapter 1.............................................................................................................. 1 Budget Estimates 2017-18 ........................................................................................ 1 Reference ................................................................................................................ 1 Portfolio coverage and hearings ............................................................................. 1 Portfolio Budget Statements 2017-18 .................................................................... 1 Hearings .................................................................................................................. 1 Questions on notice and Hansard transcripts ......................................................... 3 Note on references .................................................................................................. 3 Chapter 2.............................................................................................................. 5 Issues .......................................................................................................................... 5 Parliamentary departments, 22 May 2017 .............................................................. 5 Prime Minister and Cabinet Portfolio, 22 May 2017 ............................................. 7 Prime Minister and Cabinet Portfolio, 23 May 2017 ............................................. 9 Finance Portfolio, 24 May 2017 ........................................................................... 11 Finance Portfolio, 25 May 2017 ........................................................................... 14 Cross Portfolio Indigenous Matters, 26 May 2017 .............................................. 17 Appendix 1 ......................................................................................................... 19 Departments and agencies under the Committee's oversight ............................ 19 Parliamentary ........................................................................................................ 19 Prime Minister and Cabinet Portfolio .................................................................. 19 Finance Portfolio .................................................................................................. 20 Appendix 2 ......................................................................................................... 21 Tabled documents ................................................................................................... 21 Monday, 22 May 2017 ......................................................................................... 21 Tuesday, 23 May 2017 ......................................................................................... 21 Wednesday, 24 May 2017 .................................................................................... 23 Thursday, 25 May 2017 ........................................................................................ 23 Friday, 26 May 2017 ............................................................................................ 24 Chapter 1 Budget Estimates 2017-18 Reference 1.1 On 9 May 2017 the Senate referred to following to the Senate Finance and Public Administration Legislation Committee (the committee) for examination and report: Particulars of proposed expenditure in respect of the year ending on 30 June 2018; Particulars of certain proposed expenditure in respect of the year ending on 30 June 2018; and Particulars of proposed expenditure in relation to the parliamentary departments in respect of the year ending on 30 June 2018.1 Portfolio coverage and hearings 1.2 The committee has responsibility for examining the expenditure and outcomes of the following: 2 Parliament; Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C) Portfolio; 3 Finance Portfolio; and Cross Portfolio Indigenous Matters. Portfolio Budget Statements 2017-18 1.3 The Portfolio Budget Statements (PBS) 2017-18 for the PM&C Portfolio, the Finance Portfolio and the Parliamentary departments were tabled in the Senate on 9 May 2017.4 Hearings 1.4 The committee held public hearings from 22 to 26 May 2017. The parliamentary departments were examined on 22 May, the PM&C Portfolio (excluding Indigenous matters) was examined on 22 and 23 May, the Finance Portfolio was examined on 24 and 25 May, and the Cross Portfolio Indigenous Matters hearing was held on 26 May 2017. 1 Journals of the Senate, No. 39, 9 May 2017, p. 1311. 2 As a matter of comity between the Houses neither House inquires into the operations of the other House. For this reason, neither the annual report of, nor the proposed expenditure for, the Department of the House of Representatives is referred to a Senate committee for review. 3 Journals of the Senate, No. 2, 31 August 2016, pp 75-76. 4 Journals of the Senate, No. 39, 9 May 2017, pp 1311-1312 2 1.5 The committee took evidence from the President of the Senate, Senator the Hon Stephen Parry, and the following Ministers accompanied by officers of relevant departments and agencies: Senator the Hon George Brandis, Attorney-General, representing the Prime Minister; Senator the Hon Michaelia Cash, Minister for Employment, Minister for Women, and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service; Senator the Hon James McGrath, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister; Senator the Hon Mathias Cormann, Minister for Finance; Senator the Hon Scott Ryan, Special Minister of State; and Senator the Hon Nigel Scullion, Minister for Indigenous Affairs. 1.6 The committee expresses its appreciation for the assistance of the President, Ministers and the officers who appeared. 1.7 Over the course of the hearings, the committee took evidence from the following departments, agencies and statutory officers: Parliament Department of the Senate Parliamentary Budget Office Department of Parliamentary Services Parliamentary Service Commissioner Prime Minister and Cabinet Portfolio Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (including the Office for Women and excluding Outcome 2 – Indigenous) Independent National Security Legislation Monitor Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) Australian National Audit Office Digital Transformation Agency Office of the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security Office of the Official Secretary to the Governor-General Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman Finance Portfolio Department of Finance ASC Pty Ltd Future Fund Management Agency Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation 3 Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority Australian Electoral Commission Cross Portfolio Indigenous Matters Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (Outcome 2 – Indigenous) Department of Health (in relation to Indigenous Health issues) Indigenous Land Corporation Indigenous Business Australia Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations Questions on notice and Hansard transcripts 1.8 The committee has set 7 July 2017 as the date for the return of answers to questions on notice arising from the Budget Estimates 2017-18 hearings. This information, together with the Hansard transcripts of proceedings of hearings, are published on the committee's website at: http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Senate_Estimates/fapactte/estimates/b ud1718/index Note on references 1.9 References in this report to the estimates Hansard are to the proof Hansard; page numbers may vary between the proof and the official Hansard transcript. Chapter 2 Issues 2.1 This chapter lists some of the key issues raised for each department, agency and statutory office holder examined during the committee's hearings on the Budget Estimates 2017-18. Page numbers to the proof Hansard are indicated in brackets. Parliamentary departments, 22 May 2017 Department of the Senate The roles of the President of the Senate and Department of the Senate in relation to the recovery of payments to former Senators Day and Culleton (3- 6, 11, 15-17) Update on enterprise bargaining