Report 10: 2018

Opinions on Ministerial Notifications

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Ministerial decisions not to provide information to Parliament

Introduction

This report deals with 7 decisions by 5 Ministers not to provide information to Parliament:

  • Two decisions by the Minister for Health, the Hon Roger Cook MLA, about a report on 2015-16 induced abortions and information on abortions for the gestation range 26 to 33 weeks.
  • One decision by the Attorney General, the Hon John Quigley MLA, about legal advice sought in relation to an ex gratia payment to the Dhu family.
  • Two decisions by the Treasurer, the Hon Ben Wyatt MLA, about the overall cost to government in lost revenue from increasing the payroll tax threshold over the forward estimates.
  • One decision by the Minister for Water, the Hon Dave Kelly MLA, about proposed water use by Gogo Station in the Kimberley.
  • One decision by the Minister for Tourism, the Hon Paul Papalia MLA, about the amount of funding provided for the Margaret River Gourmet Escape in 2015, 2016 and 2017.

Section 82 of the Financial Management Act 2006 (the FM Act) requires a Minister who decides that it is reasonable and appropriate not to provide certain information to Parliament, to give written notice of the decision to both Houses of Parliament and the Auditor General within 14 days of the decision.

Section 24 of the Auditor General Act 2006 requires the Auditor General to provide an opinion to Parliament as to whether the Minister’s decision was reasonable and appropriate.

What did we do?

The Audit Practice Statement on our website (www.audit.wa.gov.au) sets out the process we follow to arrive at our section 82 opinions, including:

  • a review of agency documents
  • a review of any advice provided to the relevant Minister by agencies, the State Solicitor’s Office or other legal advisers
  • interviews with key agency persons including discussions about our draft findings and the Auditor General’s opinion.

Our procedures are designed to provide sufficient appropriate evidence to support an independent view to Parliament on the reasonableness and appropriateness of the Minister’s decision.

We have not performed an audit, however our procedures follow the key principles in the Australian Auditing and Assurance Standards.

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