❓ Mr. Wyatt questions the Treasurer about a shortfall in education budget savings and the status of the budget as a draft. The Treasurer dismisses the questions and defends the budget's integrity.
AnsweredQoN 606Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
DEPARTMENT
OF EDUCATION — DIRECTOR GENERAL
606. Mr B.S. WYATT to the
Treasurer:
I refer to evidence by the director general of the Department
of Education to the Education and Health Standing Committee last week that the
leave levy will raise only $15 million of the $60 million savings booked into
the 2013–14 budget for the leave liability cap.
(1) Is it not the
case that this means that further cuts will need to be made to cover this $45 million
shortfall in the savings booked in the Treasurer's 2013–14
budget?
(2) Is the
Treasurer aware that the director general of the Department of Education
believed that the education budget presented to this Parliament on 8 August was
a draft?
(3) Given the
significant holes that have already appeared in the Treasurer's budget,
is it not true that the Treasurer's cabinet colleagues and their
respective directors general also consider the Treasurer's budget to be
a working document that is subject to regular change?
OF EDUCATION — DIRECTOR GENERAL
606. Mr B.S. WYATT to the
Treasurer:
I refer to evidence by the director general of the Department
of Education to the Education and Health Standing Committee last week that the
leave levy will raise only $15 million of the $60 million savings booked into
the 2013–14 budget for the leave liability cap.
(1) Is it not the
case that this means that further cuts will need to be made to cover this $45 million
shortfall in the savings booked in the Treasurer's 2013–14
budget?
(2) Is the
Treasurer aware that the director general of the Department of Education
believed that the education budget presented to this Parliament on 8 August was
a draft?
(3) Given the
significant holes that have already appeared in the Treasurer's budget,
is it not true that the Treasurer's cabinet colleagues and their
respective directors general also consider the Treasurer's budget to be
a working document that is subject to regular change?
AnswerView source ↗
The member for Victoria Park does
not get to ask many questions. I thought he might have done a better job than
that. I do not know where he is in the pecking order, but he does not get to
ask many. Anyway, the answer is —
(1) No.
(2) No.
(3) No.
They are the
three answers: no, no and no.
Mr
B.S. Wyatt : So you weren't aware that the director general referred
to it as a draft.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
No, I was not. I do not believe that heads of department think that the budget
is a draft document and, no, it does not necessarily follow that that will lead
to further reductions in spending in the Department of Education. That is an
issue we will work through—I will step back—in the same way,
perhaps, that we did last year when we had to provide an additional
appropriation for the Department of Education. I do not want to have to do
that, but from time to time that is what we have to do. We are going to work
hard to get the AAA rating back. If anybody doubts our resolve, they should
look at the response from the Minister for Education and this government to the
campaign being mounted at the moment by the State School Teachers'
Union of WA and the opposition to have the public of Western Australia think
that a $300 million increase next year in the education budget of this state is
a cut. We are not going to step back from our commitments in and around changes
to the education funding model. I think the member's question is
fanciful; clearly, the budget is a legal document and, under the Financial
Management Act, agencies have an obligation to follow it and I expect that they
will. We are working very hard to make sure that they do.
not get to ask many questions. I thought he might have done a better job than
that. I do not know where he is in the pecking order, but he does not get to
ask many. Anyway, the answer is —
(1) No.
(2) No.
(3) No.
They are the
three answers: no, no and no.
Mr
B.S. Wyatt : So you weren't aware that the director general referred
to it as a draft.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
No, I was not. I do not believe that heads of department think that the budget
is a draft document and, no, it does not necessarily follow that that will lead
to further reductions in spending in the Department of Education. That is an
issue we will work through—I will step back—in the same way,
perhaps, that we did last year when we had to provide an additional
appropriation for the Department of Education. I do not want to have to do
that, but from time to time that is what we have to do. We are going to work
hard to get the AAA rating back. If anybody doubts our resolve, they should
look at the response from the Minister for Education and this government to the
campaign being mounted at the moment by the State School Teachers'
Union of WA and the opposition to have the public of Western Australia think
that a $300 million increase next year in the education budget of this state is
a cut. We are not going to step back from our commitments in and around changes
to the education funding model. I think the member's question is
fanciful; clearly, the budget is a legal document and, under the Financial
Management Act, agencies have an obligation to follow it and I expect that they
will. We are working very hard to make sure that they do.
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