Ms LAWRIE - 2015-12-02
The Australian national accounts were released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. CommSec also released its economic insights into that. It states:
Leave granted.
Ms LAWRIE: Treasurer, you presided over a Treasurer’s Annual Financial Report that could not be a clean set of books as the Auditor-General was unable to sign off without a disclaimer. People cannot see what is occurring with Power and Water and we are still waiting for a Statement of Corporate Intent. Will you be the fall guy when the member for Drysdale goes to Cabinet at the end of the week and the member for Arnhem is paid off with the government Whip position?
Madam SPEAKER: Treasurer, it goes to the heart of public policy. You may answer the question if you so desire.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I would not have thought that would pass as a question.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, I said if you choose to answer the question you can.
Mr TOLLNER: I like the little slur she got away with, that is all.
I will happily answer the question from the shadow Treasurer about the books of the Northern Territory. We saw the previous Treasurer of the Northern Territory stick her foot in it yesterday in Question Time in relation to the TAFR. Let me make something extremely clear to all on the other side; it is complete bunkum to suggest the entire TAFR received a disclaimer of opinion. The Auditor-General was very specific. The Auditor’s concern only relates to the public non-financial corporation sector, which is the Power and Water Corporation.
The Auditor-General has provided qualified audit opinions on PWC for at least 10 years, the Attorney-General tells me. We came to government knowing there were problems with the Power and Water Corporation. We knew it was unaccountable and lacked transparency. The best way to fix it was to undertake a structural separation and put market reforms in place, which the shadow Treasurer …
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 110; you have presided over a contracting economy. It is contracting by 13.8%.
Madam SPEAKER: What is your point of order?
Ms LAWRIE: Will you be the fall guy for the member for Drysdale going into Cabinet and the member for Arnhem becoming Whip?
Mr TOLLNER: The shadow Treasurer, the quasi-Opposition Leader, is blinkered. If you read the Treasury papers or any reports, you would see we have the strongest economic growth in the nation.
Getting back to the basis of the question, the Power and Water Corporation required structural separation. We knew there were deep problems within the Power and Water Corporation. We knew the AMS system, which you had put in place …
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 110; the economy has contracted by 13.8%.
Madam SPEAKER: It is not a point of order. Sit down.
Mr TOLLNER: Goodness me. Talk about trying to mislead people. First you ask a non-question, and then you want to try to clarify it.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, please withdraw the word ‘misleading’.
Mr TOLLNER: I withdraw. The quasi-Opposition Leader has developed a glass jaw in the last couple of days.
We knew the Power and Water Corporation was in dire financial straits. The AMS system did not work. The financial management system within the Power and Water Corporation did not work and, finally, we have proper audit reports on both Jacana and T-Gen.
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 110; we have 13 seconds left. Will you answer the question?
Madam SPEAKER: Please be seated. It is not a point of order.
Mr TOLLNER: Pointless points of order from the quasi-Opposition Leader. This is the person who left us $5.5bn of projected debt and a $1.2bn budget deficit.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
The best description of the performance of States and Territory economies is state final demand plus net exports.
…
The Northern Territory contracted by 13.8 per cent.
Leave granted.
Ms LAWRIE: Treasurer, you presided over a Treasurer’s Annual Financial Report that could not be a clean set of books as the Auditor-General was unable to sign off without a disclaimer. People cannot see what is occurring with Power and Water and we are still waiting for a Statement of Corporate Intent. Will you be the fall guy when the member for Drysdale goes to Cabinet at the end of the week and the member for Arnhem is paid off with the government Whip position?
Madam SPEAKER: Treasurer, it goes to the heart of public policy. You may answer the question if you so desire.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I would not have thought that would pass as a question.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, I said if you choose to answer the question you can.
Mr TOLLNER: I like the little slur she got away with, that is all.
I will happily answer the question from the shadow Treasurer about the books of the Northern Territory. We saw the previous Treasurer of the Northern Territory stick her foot in it yesterday in Question Time in relation to the TAFR. Let me make something extremely clear to all on the other side; it is complete bunkum to suggest the entire TAFR received a disclaimer of opinion. The Auditor-General was very specific. The Auditor’s concern only relates to the public non-financial corporation sector, which is the Power and Water Corporation.
The Auditor-General has provided qualified audit opinions on PWC for at least 10 years, the Attorney-General tells me. We came to government knowing there were problems with the Power and Water Corporation. We knew it was unaccountable and lacked transparency. The best way to fix it was to undertake a structural separation and put market reforms in place, which the shadow Treasurer …
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 110; you have presided over a contracting economy. It is contracting by 13.8%.
Madam SPEAKER: What is your point of order?
Ms LAWRIE: Will you be the fall guy for the member for Drysdale going into Cabinet and the member for Arnhem becoming Whip?
Mr TOLLNER: The shadow Treasurer, the quasi-Opposition Leader, is blinkered. If you read the Treasury papers or any reports, you would see we have the strongest economic growth in the nation.
Getting back to the basis of the question, the Power and Water Corporation required structural separation. We knew there were deep problems within the Power and Water Corporation. We knew the AMS system, which you had put in place …
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 110; the economy has contracted by 13.8%.
Madam SPEAKER: It is not a point of order. Sit down.
Mr TOLLNER: Goodness me. Talk about trying to mislead people. First you ask a non-question, and then you want to try to clarify it.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, please withdraw the word ‘misleading’.
Mr TOLLNER: I withdraw. The quasi-Opposition Leader has developed a glass jaw in the last couple of days.
We knew the Power and Water Corporation was in dire financial straits. The AMS system did not work. The financial management system within the Power and Water Corporation did not work and, finally, we have proper audit reports on both Jacana and T-Gen.
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 110; we have 13 seconds left. Will you answer the question?
Madam SPEAKER: Please be seated. It is not a point of order.
Mr TOLLNER: Pointless points of order from the quasi-Opposition Leader. This is the person who left us $5.5bn of projected debt and a $1.2bn budget deficit.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016