Kelly O'Dwyer (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

We are here tonight to debate the second amendment that has been brought forward to amend this bill, the Parliamentary Service Amendment (Parliamentary Budget Officer) Bill 2011, because we on this side of the chamber believe very strongly that it is important to draw back the curtain, let the sunshine in and be able to have an independent parliamentary budget office that will have the full powers to be able to go about doing its job.

I know that the member for Lyne, who is not here in this chamber tonight and who is also a member of the committee, said that he was very concerned that the Parliamentary Budget Office needed to be an independent budget office. In the past in this chamber we debated the first amendment to this bill moved by the shadow Treasurer. We are onto the second amendment now, and the purpose of the second amendment that has been brought forward by the shadow Treasurer is to give the Parliamentary Budget Office the powers to be able to obtain information. What could go to independence more than the powers to be able to obtain information?

It is clear that under the bill that has been brought forward by the government that the Parliamentary Budget Office would be constrained. It would be constrained by memorandums of understanding that it would have with the Department of the Treasury, the Department of Finance and Deregulation and other departments. It would be restricted in the information that it could look at, which of course would mean that it would not be able to look at the budget cycle, at fiscal policy, properly. It would not be able to provide a sensitivity analysis to the figures provided because it would be restricted in the information granted to it.

This amendment that has been brought forward by the shadow Treasurer gives the Parliamentary Budget Officer some serious grunt, some serious power. That is serious power is as strong as the powers of the Auditor-General. We think that is what is required to have an independent, properly functioning parliamentary budget officer. In the amendments that we have brought forward, it will allow the Parliamentary Budget Officer by written notice to direct an employee of an agency to do all or any of the following:

… provide the Parliamentary Budget Officer with any information that the Parliamentary Budget Officer requires—

and we think that is important. They should be able to determine what it is that they require in order to perform their role and function. It also says that the Parliamentary Budget Officer by written notice can direct an employee of an agency to:

… attend and give evidence before the Parliamentary Budget Officer or an authorised officer.

Just think of this: this allows the Parliamentary Budget Officer to be able to interrogate Department of the Treasury and Department of Finance about the figures that they have brought forward. The officer is able to then ask them about the assumptions that are within their models. It gives them the ability to be able to truly conduct sensitivity analyses and it means that, rather than simply being restricted in the information that is provided, they can ask the pertinent questions that may arise.

Our amendment also goes to the fact that it would require the Parliamentary Budget Officer by written notice to direct an employee of an agency to also:

… produce to the Parliamentary Budget Officer any documents in the custody or under the control of the employee.

So often it is very difficult in this place to obtain the information that is necessary to find out the answers to fairly basic questions because that information is held by one department and not by another and often there are many excuses employed as to why that information cannot be provided. This amendment gets around that. It means that if one department is holding the information of another department and it is relevant to the figures that they have brought forward, or they have information that is relevant to the Parliamentary Budget Office, they must produce it. That is why this amendment is necessary. That is why this amendment goes to the integrity of the Parliamentary Budget Office.

The shadow Treasurer and the coalition are the only members in this place who are truly concerned about having a parliamentary budget office that is in the true spirit of the US Congressional Budget Office, one that has serious grunt to perform its role and function and to do its job as an independent parliamentary budget office.

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