Wednesday, 8 March 2023

 Samantha RATNAM (Northern Metropolitan) (17:31): I rise to speak to the Parliamentary Budget Office Report of Operations for the Victorian 2022 General Election. Yesterday the PBO tabled their report of operations into the last Victorian general election. It outlined the important work that the PBO does, preparing over 800 costings in the election period to allow political parties and voters to engage in informed debate on election promises.

We live in an age of increasing distrust, with sometimes wild political claims coupled with eroded faith in our governments not serving our needs. In Victoria we counter this with a series of integrity agencies who hold politicians to account and in doing so help people to trust government and to trust democracy. They are essential. The Parliamentary Budget Office’s part in this is providing costings – pre and post election – which help keep wild claims in check and improve credibility and therefore confidence in our institutions. Knowing that they will face a public post-election report makes parties accountable and more likely to develop an election platform that the public can believe. The PBO also provides analysis and advice outside of election periods. This levels the playing field, helping non-government parties understand the state of the budget and the likely impact of different policies and proposals. It helps keep political debates informed and constructive.

The PBO does an excellent job with the resources it has available to it, working tirelessly while maintaining its strong commitment to fairness and confidentiality. However, there are a series of potential changes which would allow them to provide better, fairer, reliable and timely services. These changes are outlined in the recommendations in the report of operations. The first of these relates to the Department of Treasury and Finance also providing a costing service during the election period. This is a service which tends to be used only by the incumbent political party because, whether or not it is true, the service is not seen as independent. Having two different bodies providing election costings confuses the public, undermines faith in election commitments and also calls into question the caretaker conventions, which aim to deliver a public service which can be trusted by an incoming government. Recommendation 3 calls on the government to reaffirm its commitment to the PBO via a new statement of intent. While the Andrews Labor government has made a clear commitment to the PBO by establishing the office, this is not backed up by the behaviour from the public service. Departments can take months to respond to information requests, which are key to informing the public debate.

Another key recommendation is for budget independence. In October last year the Victorian Ombudsman, the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission and the Victorian Auditor-General’s Office recommended that the Victorian government work to establish an independent commissioner or tribunal to support transparent, accountable and evidenced-based decision-making on funding for these three agencies. The PBO would like to see this established and expanded to include them. This makes sense, not just to protect these agencies from the whims of future governments but also for a clear demonstration that this government believes in integrity, accountability and democracy. I urge the government to accept these recommendations as well as others in the report.

In 2019 the OECD published a report on the Victorian PBO, which echoed many of these recommendations as well as emphasising the importance of independent bodies like the PBO. It noted that the experience of jurisdictions:

… with more long-standing institutions demonstrates that – even if they do not always agree –

independent fiscal institutions –

are viewed in the longer term as important partners for finance ministries and legislative budget committees in promoting credible fiscal policies.

As the Treasurer said in 2016 in supporting the establishment of the PBO:

An effective and independent PBO supports open and democratic government …

I urge the government to maintain this commitment to open and democratic government by adopting the recommendations in this report.