Wednesday, 30 October 2019

Public Accounts and Estimates Committee

Report on the 2019–20 Budget Estimates

Ms BLANDTHORN (Pascoe Vale) (10:10): I rise also to speak on the Report on the 2019–20 Budget Estimates. I came as chair to this committee halfway through the process of this inquiry, and it certainly was well underway. The hearings had concluded at the point at which I became chair of the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee.

The questionnaire obviously had been agreed to and distributed to the departments back in April, the budget was obviously on 27 May, and then the hearings were from 31 May to 14 June, on what I understand from fellow committee members was a rather gruelling schedule. Then of course there was an extensive process of questions on notice, both those taken within the hearings and also, in a new process, some questions that were tabled outside of the hearing and those questions being responded to.

We then had our deliberation meetings, and that was also quite an extensive process, going chapter by chapter through this new report. The new report follows a new structure this year and, instead of just being an overall assessment of the accounts of the estimates, it goes chapter by chapter through each of the departments, giving an overview of expenditure measures and outcome measures within each of the departments.

Throughout this process I have been ably supported by the committee members, and I would like to acknowledge the deputy chair, the member for Polwarth, who is in the chamber now; the member for Mordialloc; the member for Narre Warren South; the member for Cranbourne; the member for Gippsland South; and the member for Prahran; as well as in the other place a member for Western Metropolitan Region, Ingrid Stitt.

Of course I would like to also acknowledge the work of the committee secretariat, Dr Caroline Williams and her team. They have put in many, many hours of work into this report, and if I could mention Jessica Strout, Marianna Stylianou, Igor Dosen, Janithri Wickramaratne, Krystle Gatt Rapa and Amber Candy, and consultant Steven Vlahos, who supported the committee in their work in scrutinising the budget estimates for this budget.

I also acknowledge those ministers and their staff and departments who participated in this process, the parliamentary Presiding Officers, the Victorian Auditor-General, the various departments, and the staff associated with the committee hearings. On a schedule such as the one that I understand the hearings took, staff play a big role in supporting the work of this important committee, and we do thank them.

This report comes at an important time for the government and for the Parliament. It has been tabled at an important time in that it scrutinises the government’s $70 billion 2019–20 budget, and the committee’s primary aim was obviously to promote the accountability, transparency and integrity of the executive government and of course the public sector as a whole. Significant public spending is committed to large infrastructure projects in this budget, and we have heard about many of those. Indeed the minister at the table, the Assistant Treasurer, spoke just now about the Level Crossing Removal Project. This budget certainly allocates a lot of money to big infrastructure projects, and the scrutiny of those projects through this process is obviously an important one in ensuring the delivery is efficient.

Victoria obviously also has a rapidly growing population, which is placing increased pressure on critical health and education services. Again I note the role of this committee in assessing the expenditure on health and education, particularly when the government as a whole has the highest expenditure in relation to education and rebuilding our Education State. The report looks, significantly, at the issues associated with expenditure in the education department.

The report as a whole includes 63 recommendations, which I am sure over subsequent weeks members will consider and perhaps speak about in this place. The 63 recommendations to departments are designed to encourage the effective and efficient delivery of public service and assets and improve understanding of the budget papers as a whole. There are several themes which are reflected in the committee’s recommendations, including the need to review or establish performance measures and targets for initiatives that are of significant interest and for initiatives that attract significant funding allocations. There are some key recommendations which I obviously do not have time to go into today. In particular I would like to draw out some of the recommendations in relation to gender-responsive budgeting and note that the committee has decided, partly influenced through this process, to undertake a subsequent inquiry into gender-responsive budgeting.

I look forward to the continuing work of the committee and our follow-up reports to the Auditor-General’s previous reports, and I thank the members for their work.