Report 4: 2018-19

Opinions on Ministerial Notifications

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Ministerial decisions not to provide information to Parliament

Introduction

This report deals with 2 decisions by the Minister for Emergency Services, the Hon Francis Logan MLA not to provide information to Parliament about:

  • the government review of aircraft owned and leased by the State
  • locations identified as the next priority for a Volunteer Fire and Rescue Station or a Career Fire and Rescue Station.

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 Ministers 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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