Shadow Chief Minister, Lia Finocchiaro, says the performance by Natasha Fyles on the opening day of Estimates has proven there is absolutely no point of difference between her leadership and that of her predecessor, Michael Gunner.
Questioning has so far uncovered:
- The Auditor-General revealed government has no “comprehensive system” in place to assess the dollar value of savings through Labor’s implementation of critical recommendations of Langoulant’s Plan for Budget Repair;
- The Auditor-General has made three referrals to the ICAC, including the 2020 Home Improvement Scheme to investigate allegations of fraud;
- Government has slashed the anti-corruption watchdog’s budget by 20%, which ICAC Commissioner Michael Riches said will impact the “discharge of my statutory functions”;
- The Office of the ICAC has already paid out $149,000 through court proceedings, and there are an additional five active Supreme Court matters underway;
- The Chief Minister is refusing to make the closed-door review into the ICAC Act public;
- The ICAC Commissioner was forced to drop an investigation into “serious” allegations of misleading cabinet because he couldn’t access specific documents under the current legislation;
- The Chief Minister didn’t mention crime or community safety in her opening statement and refused to say why she wouldn’t take back the police portfolio – which traditionally sits with the Chief Minister;
- The Chief Minister couldn’t detail a single initiative she will introduce to kick start the Territory’s economy, tackle crime or bring down the cost of living.
“Three months ago, the Opposition submitted written questions, through a formal parliamentary process, around the core functions of each department including: staffing levels, impact of the COVID mandate, attrition, outsourcing, and procurement.
“This ensures the data is received well in advance of Estimates and can be carefully scrutinised. These questions are required to be answered within 30 days. The answers were only delivered this morning: 47 days overdue, or 77 days after questions were submitted. “A key revelation from those agency questions is more than $23,000 in Ministerial travel in the lead up to last year’s Daly by-election,” said Mrs Finocchiaro.
ENDS