Budget and Finance Committee

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (17:24): I move:

1. That a committee, to be called the Budget and Finance Committee, be appointed to monitor and scrutinise all matters relating to the state budget and the financial administration of the state.

2. That the standing orders of the Legislative Council in relation to select committees be applied and accordingly—

(a) that standing order 389 be so far suspended as to enable the chairperson of the committee to have a deliberative vote only;

(b) that this council permits the committee to authorise the disclosure or publication, as it sees fit, of any evidence or documents presented to the committee prior to any such evidence being reported to the council; and

(c) that standing order 396 be suspended to enable strangers to be admitted when the committee is examining witnesses unless the committee otherwise resolves, but they shall be excluded when the committee is deliberating.

3. That members of the council who are not members of the committee may, at the discretion of the chairperson, participate in proceedings of the committee but may not vote, move any motions or be counted for the purposes of a quorum.

4. That a full-time research officer position be made available to assist the work of the committee.

I do not propose to speak at length to the moving of this particular motion, although I acknowledge there are two members who are new to the chamber who will be new to the debate in relation to the Budget and Finance Committee. I refer those members, and those who may want to refresh their memory, to contributions in the last parliament (which are covered in Hansard of 12 May and I think a subsequent meeting of the council two weeks after 12 May 2010) and, in particular, the first motions to establish this committee back in the middle of 2007.

This chamber has supported, in the previous 2007 and 2010 parliaments, the establishment of a Budget and Finance Committee. The role and operation of the Budget and Finance Committee I think is familiar to all members. Speaking as one member of that committee over its lifetime, I believe it has undertaken work which is of value to this parliament and to the community in terms of ensuring greater transparency and accountability in terms of the state's finances.

Its operations have, in general, been accepted by all, other than, clearly, the members of the government party over the last seven years. I do not propose to outline the arguments for such a committee again, and I do not propose to outline some of the achievements and, I think, some of the benefits that we have seen from the workings of the committee over the period of seven years, but I propose to make two points; the first is to reinforce the operations of the committee.

Should it be established, the committee will comprise five members, but it is different from all other committees established in this parliament, in that under its terms of reference, Mr President, as you would be familiar as a former member of the committee, we welcome all other members of the Legislative Council to come as participating members of the committee. In the seven years of the operation of the committee, on no occasion has a member been refused permission to come and participate, and there has not been an example where a member who has participated has been unable to ask the questions, either directly or on notice, that he or she has wished to put.

Can I also indicate that there have been occasions when members of the Legislative Council who wanted to come and ask questions but who were unable to attend a particular meeting have asked other members of the committee, including me, to put questions on their behalf at the committee meeting to departmental representatives, and the committee has assisted those members with that.

I have not counted, but over the last four years I think at least half a dozen to eight other members of the Legislative Council at one stage or another have attended to ask certain questions which were of interest to those members during the committee. For example, if a member has a particular interest in the environment, they may only attend the meeting when the department that relates to environmental matters gives evidence. The operations of the committee tend to be on a regular rotational basis.

The other point I wish to make is that the committee during the last parliament, because the government had ensured that there was not an ongoing Public Works Committee monitoring of the new build for the new Royal Adelaide Hospital, resolved to take evidence on the new Royal Adelaide Hospital. Should the committee be established, I hope that it would resolve to continue to have a monitoring role for the operations of the new Royal Adelaide Hospital.

The final point I make is that, given that this is a tried and tested debate, done in 2007 and in 2010, as I have mentioned, I give notice today that I intend to seek a vote on the establishment of this committee when we next sit for private members' business, which I understand is in two weeks' time. That is, in essence, what we did last time.

As I said, most parties and members will have formed their view, and I give early notice that I will be seeking a vote on the committee, should the majority of this chamber support the establishment of the committee. It would allow the committee to meet soon after it is established and commence the scheduling of witnesses and to start taking evidence at almost the same time that the budget is brought down in the middle of June, which would be an opportune time to commence taking evidence from senior members of the Public Service.

If the committee is established, I am not aware of which hardworking members of the Australian Labor Party might be nominated. There would appear to be maybe only two nominees; the Hon. Mr Ngo would appear to be one of them. I am not sure whether the Hon. Mr Kandelaars—

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway: The Hon. Mr Ngo is saying yes by the sounds of it.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: The Hon. Mr Ngo might have said yes. I suspect that the other might be the Hon. Mr Kandelaars. Certainly from the Hon. Mr Ngo's viewpoint, it will be a new experience for him although, as a former ministerial adviser, I am sure he is aware of the work of the committee in relation to at least the health portfolio and other portfolios he might have been engaged in. He will now certainly be able to ask his own questions of those senior bureaucrats. He will know where some of the skeletons are buried—yes, he can rub his hands together—and we look forward to his active participation in the committee.

Sensible spending of taxpayer dollars and financial accountability is an issue that should be of concern to us all. Sometimes—only sometimes—I am sure that departments and agencies get up to business and decisions that even ministers or ministerial advisers might not be either approving or aware of. The Budget and Finance Committee will give the Hon. Mr Ngo and other members the opportunity to ask their own questions during any evidence taken, should the committee be established. With those few words, I urge members to support the establishment of the Budget and Finance Committee.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins.