Appropriation (Budget Variations) Bill 2008

Debate resumed from 14 May 2008.

Ms LYLEA McMAHON (Shellharbour) [3.15 p.m.]: The Appropriation (Budget Variations) Bill 2008 seeks approval for supplementary funding. This is a process that successive governments have used to ensure that there is an appropriate balance between accountability and flexibility in the management of public funds—and it is a process that this Government takes very seriously. I wish I could say the same for the Opposition, but the member for Manly cannot even read the bill correctly. In the House the member claimed erroneously that the bill included $1 million for the appointment of a private-sector partner to manage the New South Wales Police Force's property portfolio. That is just wrong. If the member for Manly cannot even read the bill correctly, what hope is there of the Opposition ever being capable of managing its responsibilities to this House if it were in government? What hope is there that the Opposition's financial guru, the member for Manly—who would be the Treasurer in a Coalition government—could take charge of the Treasury portfolio if he cannot even read an appropriation bill?

This Government takes its responsibility to Parliament and to New South Wales taxpayers seriously. That is why this bill seeks the Parliament's consent for an increase of $34.8 million to fund higher than expected expenditure on out-of-home care allowances. The key words are "higher than expected". The Opposition's attempt to argue against this expenditure is appalling. This funding is required to support an increase in the number of young people in out-of-home care and is in addition to $3.2 million in capital funding provided to support Department of Community Services caseworkers. These caseworkers do a vital job. In February this year I, alongside the Minister for Community Services, visited caseworkers in my electorate of Shellharbour. At the time there were some 41 caseworkers in my electorate, many of whom called on the Minister to increase the number of out-of-home care places funded by the New South Wales Government. The Government's inclusion of almost $35 million towards these places is a sign of our strong and ongoing focus on ensuring that the Department of Community Services supports adequately New South Wales children and young people.

The bill also informs the Parliament of unexpected expenditures that must be met this year from the Treasurer's Advance. This year's unforeseen costs include those associated with equine flu. As members may recall, New South Wales supported the national equine influenza response, which brought together industry and Federal and State government funds to bring about a rapid response to the equine flu outbreak. These funds were utilised successfully to support the national response plan, and this is an example of the significant benefits of having an accessible Treasurer's Advance from which to draw. The Appropriation (Budget Variations) Bill 2008 also includes $5 million for the expansion of the school safety zone plan, which is an important New South Wales Government initiative aimed at making the roads around our schools safer. This funding has allowed the New South Wales Government to roll out flashing lights and speed cameras around New South Wales schools, where they are needed.

Other items that were funded from the Treasurer's Advance this financial year include $2.87 million to fund implementation costs associated with New South Wales's new firearms licensing arrangements for State police and $1.7 million for pest and disease control to support the efforts of the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries. I want to highlight that the process of bringing the Appropriation (Budget Variations) Bill to the Parliament has been endorsed by the Auditor-General and Legislative Council General Purpose Standing Committee No. 1 in its report on appropriation processes. This year top-up funding constitutes less than 1 per cent of the total State budget. The introduction of this bill is further evidence of the Government's commitment to transparent and full financial reporting. I commend the bill to the House.

Mr JONATHAN O'DEA (Davidson) [3.20 p.m.]: I will continue my contribution to debate on the Appropriation (Budget Variations) Bill 2008, which seeks appropriations of $190 million in adjustment of the Advance to the Treasurer and an additional $218 million for recurrent services. Before the debate was adjourned I spoke of how after 13 years of hard Labor this State does not suffer from a lack of revenue but from a lack of confidence in how the Government manages available resources in delivering basic public services to the long-suffering residents of New South Wales. I was surprised by the apparently lazy $140 million available to repay debt when the Government announced major new borrowings for public infrastructure expenditure in the 2007-08 budget.

In the spirit of its supposed commitment to transparent and full financial reporting to the Parliament and the community, I ask: Why is this debt repayment specified to apply regarding the Chatswood to Epping rail link project? The previously named Chatswood to Parramatta rail project had a massive budget blow-out despite delivering only half of the originally promised track distance. How much of the extra debt repayment represents the extra interest payable? What is the current extra debt level for that project, above that originally budgeted for the now shortened project? Unfortunately, the budget process lacks information regarding variations to the cost of major projects and such programs.

Government members said that Parliament and the community should now simply accept top-up funding bills such as this one because they have occurred in four of the past five years. I do not accept that. We should always strive to get it right when managing public money. On behalf of the people of New South Wales we should not simply accept that close enough is good enough, as this Government proposes. The fact that this Government got the estimates right once in five years gives it a 20 per cent strike rate, which is very ordinary at best. However, I do not want to be too harsh on Treasurer Costa—

Mr Michael Daley: Go on!

Mr JONATHAN O'DEA: —who some see as the train driver of the train wreck that is the New South Wales Government. I will leave that to Government members. Indeed, the member for Maroubra encourages me to criticise his colleague. At least the financial blow-out is not as bad as in previous years. Minister Costa has publicly reprimanded or corrected his ministerial colleagues on various occasions when they have clearly underperformed. At the moment Treasurer Costa is no doubt on a Watkins-watch, just as I will increase my focus on a government waste-watch. After all, Minister Watkins is the person responsible for the massive blow-out of the Chatswood to Epping rail project, for the waste of almost $100 million of public funds on the Tcard debacle, for systematically late or substandard delivery of railway rolling stock, and for RailCorp where corruption and mismanagement have been highlighted by the Independent Commission Against Corruption and the Auditor-General.

I will not even start on the deficiencies with various everyday transport services, including in my electorate of Davidson—that can wait for another day. New South Wales cannot afford such mismanagement and lack of proper governance oversight, as we see in the New South Wales Government. With the recent change of Federal Government, New South Wales Labor can no longer rely on excellent financial management federally, and the consequent health of our national economy, to carry a relatively underperforming New South Wales economy over the line.

Mr MICHAEL DALEY (Maroubra—Parliamentary Secretary) [3.24 p.m.], in reply: I thank members representing the electorates of Manly, Willoughby, Wollongong, Shellharbour and Davidson for their contributions to the debate on the Appropriation (Budget Variations) Bill. The member for Davidson talked about a financial blow-out, but the Government's 13 consecutive budget surpluses suffered by the Coalition is hardly a budget blow-out. It does not surprise me that the member for Davidson should speak in those terms as he is not the only member of the Opposition who is masquerading in respect of financial management. The member for Manly masquerades as a future leader, an economist and as a political historian, as does his colleague, the member for Davidson.

I am happy to put them straight. The Coalition have the gall and hide to lecture the Government on debt. I remind the Coalition that this Labor Government has now delivered 13 consecutive surpluses. I also remind the House and the people of New South Wales that when the Coalition was removed from government in March 1995 government debt was $12.4 billion, or 7.4 per cent of gross State product [GSP]. By June 2007 it was reduced to 1 per cent of GSP. Today, as outlined on page 3 of the Budget Overview and its accompanying papers, the net debt per cent of GSP is 1.7 per cent to 2012, even with the modest increase in debt. Opposition members should not lecture the Government on debt, as the member for Davidson did.

Mr Daryl Maguire: Point of order: The Parliamentary Secretary is misleading this House.

The DEPUTY-SPEAKER: Order! What is the point of order?

Mr Daryl Maguire: He knows full well that the debt was Neville Wran's $20 billion worth of debt.

The DEPUTY-SPEAKER: Order! There is no point of order.

Mr MICHAEL DALEY: There is no point of order, as Mr Deputy-Speaker rightly pointed out. The Opposition Whip ought to read Hansard and the contributions of his colleagues on 7 May on this bill. I laughed when once again the member for Davidson held out Howard and Costello as the great economic managers of this nation. I, like the rest of the Australian people, consider them irrelevant. I will examine their treatment of the budgets in respect of appropriation bills of the kind that we are debating today. In the past five years the Howard and Costello Coalition Government introduced 12 Appropriation Acts for additional spending above its normal budget Acts. They totalled $9.088 billion, compared with what we are debating today, which is replete with details of the recipients of the funds and programs on which the items were spent. All Howard and Costello did was describe them as equity injections. There was no transparency and a simple contempt for the Parliament of Australia and the people of the nation. In the State Government's 2007-08 Budget Paper No. 5, Treasurer Costa has advances for recurrent services and capital works and services totalling $325 million.

What has this pesky Treasurer done? He has a bad habit of walking into the House and delivering tremendous budgets. He did that again today. But he has another bad habit with appropriation bills, one that he followed again today. He could have spent $325 million but spent only $190 million. He availed himself of only 58 per cent of the available amount, and $135 million is still left in current advances. Firstly, as a matter of principle, that is within his legislative charter and his right, and, secondly, that is hardly the profligate management and spending that Coalition members have described. I am sorry to disappoint them, but they have got it absolutely wrong.

Another aspect of the bill is that $140 million relates to debt. Schedule 1 J shows a payment of $140 million. At the Government's discretion, it has decided to pay for additional rail grants for debt repayment. Again, that is hardly mismanagement, hardly profligacy. As I said when introducing the bill to the House, over the past year a number of calls have been made for irregular, one-off events to be funded through the Treasurer's Advance. The bill offers Parliament the opportunity to scrutinise the Government's one-off expenditures. I again draw attention to schedule 1, which itemises expenses met through the Treasurer's Advance to date and unbudgeted expenses for which the Government seeks Parliament's approval.

The bill includes $7.9 million for the equine influenza response plan, which I mentioned when introducing the bill on 7 May 2008. A key recommendation of Mr John O'Neill's recent report on improving the competitive advantage for New South Wales in attracting major events was the establishment of Events New South Wales. The Government listened and this bill informs members that $11.1 million was sourced from the Treasurer's Advance to establish Events New South Wales. That organisation will help to attract major cultural, commercial and sporting events. The bill also includes a $25 million recurrent grant to match the Commonwealth's commitment towards the construction of a new hill grandstand at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

The new hill grandstand will replace the existing Sydney Cricket Ground hill seating, that members will know of as Yabba's Hill, as well as the Doug Walters Stand. I am advised that as a result of Government funding the new hill grandstand will be open in December this year, in time for the all-important New Years Day Sydney test match. The Appropriations (Budget Variations) Bill 2008 will also support the people of my electorate. The Prince of Wales Hospital in Randwick that services my constituents will receive $2.1 million to open a further eight acute beds. The member for Heathcote is intensely interested in that.

Members of the Coalition cannot have it both ways. On the one hand they cannot call for additional beds and on the other hand when those beds are provided—as provided for in today's budget—they cannot incorrectly criticise the Government. That provision is in addition to initiatives announced in the 2007-08 budget for the Prince of Wales Hospital, which included $3.3 million towards the construction of a hyperbaric chamber at an estimated cost of $7.6 million. That vital, specialised equipment will be utilised by citizens across the State.

The 2007-08 budget makes provisions for the next financial year and was delivered before the start of that financial year. Members would be aware that throughout the year the Government must cater for unforeseen expenditures. The bill ensures that variations to the 2007-08 budget are appropriated by Parliament and that there is a transparent process for examining that expenditure. The Government, in presenting a further appropriation bill, seeks, as far as possible, to ensure that Parliament has the opportunity to scrutinise anticipated additional funding requirements prior to expenditures being incurred. That practice has an enhanced accountability for the expenditure of public moneys from the Consolidated Fund. Members opposite may need to be reminded that some other items relevant to the bill include the $10 million for a new educational wing at the Museum of Contemporary Art.

Ms Linda Burney: Hear! Hear!

Mr MICHAEL DALEY: The Minister for Fair Trading said, "Hear! Hear!" Further, $10.3 million has been allocated to extend the school safety zone plan and $4.4 million to cover World Youth Day planning costs.

Mr Mike Baird: A big plan.

Mr MICHAEL DALEY: Yes, a big plan, as the member for Manly quite rightly pointed out, in respect of the Government's budgetary achievements for the State. I remind the House that the bill includes $140 million to reduce rail debt. That is on top of the $960 million in rail debt repayment announced during the 2007-08 budget. It is prudent financial management for the Government to pay down debt where it can. Members opposite know all about debt: they are tremendous at racking it up but no good whatsoever at paying it off. Without exception they always leave that up to the Government. As highlighted in this debate, the Government's presentation of this bill is further evidence of its commitment to transparent and full financial reporting to Parliament and the community. I commend the bill to the House.

Question—That this bill be now agreed to in principle—put and resolved in the affirmative.

Motion agreed to.

Bill agreed to in principle.


Bill declared passed and transmitted to the Legislative Council with a message seeking its concurrence in the bill.