Ms CARTER - 2003-02-18
Last week, you said that every day of the week people come to you seeking funding and you tell them they have to present a business plan. Why do you keep continuing to mislead these Territorians and give them false hope when, at the same time, at the same interview, you went on to say: ‘Funding is quite removed from me’.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I will probably have to describe this very carefully so the member for Port Darwin completely understands. There is a big bucket of money which goes into the non-government sector. That is an operational matter which is dealt with. The cheques are sent out by the department. The government gives priorities to where we want that money to go, then the department allocates the money according to the priorities set by the government.
Every day of the week, the department and my office are asked for money by various organisations. There is no question about that. However, there is a difference between people asking you for money and your ability to actually pay for that service. There is a limited amount of money within a budget for all sorts of things, including the non-government sector - a limited amount of money. The review talks about better financial management. We cannot spend more money than we actually have; we can only spend the amount of money that is there. When someone comes to see me and is requesting money, what they need to do is to actually go and see the department. The department is the area which actually organises the service agreements.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Just cease, minister, until they settle down.
Mrs AAGAARD: Madam Speaker, it is very difficult trying to answer these questions with this level of interjection.
This is about separation of powers, something which the CLP certainly did not know a lot about - operational government, those two things. There is a certain amount of money which is distributed by the department based on policy decisions of the government.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I will probably have to describe this very carefully so the member for Port Darwin completely understands. There is a big bucket of money which goes into the non-government sector. That is an operational matter which is dealt with. The cheques are sent out by the department. The government gives priorities to where we want that money to go, then the department allocates the money according to the priorities set by the government.
Every day of the week, the department and my office are asked for money by various organisations. There is no question about that. However, there is a difference between people asking you for money and your ability to actually pay for that service. There is a limited amount of money within a budget for all sorts of things, including the non-government sector - a limited amount of money. The review talks about better financial management. We cannot spend more money than we actually have; we can only spend the amount of money that is there. When someone comes to see me and is requesting money, what they need to do is to actually go and see the department. The department is the area which actually organises the service agreements.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Just cease, minister, until they settle down.
Mrs AAGAARD: Madam Speaker, it is very difficult trying to answer these questions with this level of interjection.
This is about separation of powers, something which the CLP certainly did not know a lot about - operational government, those two things. There is a certain amount of money which is distributed by the department based on policy decisions of the government.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016