XN000022-1977-01-19 — Page 13

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 19, 1977

EFFICIENT USE OF PUBLIC FUNDS

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IT IS THE GOVERNMENT'S OBJECTIVE TO ENSURE THAT PUBLIC FUNDS ARE USED EFFICIENTLY AND EFFECTIVELY, THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY, THE HON. PHILIP HADDON-CAVE, SA ID IN THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL TODAY.

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HE WAS REPLYING TO A QUESTION BY THE HON. MISS LYDIA DUNN WHO ASKED IF THE GOVERNMENT WAS SATISFIED THAT EXISTING REGULATIONS AND PROCEDURES WERE ADEQUATE TO ENSURE THE EFFICIENT EXPENDITURE OF PUBLIC FUNDS, AS NO FEWER THAN 19 PARAGRAPHS OF THE DIRECTOR OF AUDIT'S ANNUAL REPORT ON THE GOVERNMENT'S ACCOUNTS FOR 1975-76 WERE DEVOTED TO HEADS OF EXPENDITURE RELATING TO THE PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT.

MR. HADDON-CAVE SAID: +REGULATIONS AND PROCEDURES DESIGNED TO HELP IN ACHIEVING THIS OBJECTIVE CAN NEVER BE PERFECTLY DRAFTED, LET ALONE INVARIABLY OBEYED, BUT I THINK WE DO LEARN FROM EXPERIENCE AND I THINK WE MAKE IMPROVEMENTS WHENEVER WE CAN.

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+ IN THIS CONTEXT, THE REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF AUDIT ON THE ANNUAL ACCOUNTS IS INVALUABLE. HE COMMENTS AND PUBLICLY OVER A MUCH WIDER RANGE OF SUBJECTS THAN DOES A COMMERCIAL AUDITOR AND IN RECENT YEARS HE HAS PLACED MORE AND MORE EMPHASIS ON THE VALUE FOR MONEY ASPECTS,+

AS FOR THE 19 PARAGRAPHS OF THE REPORT DEVOTED TO HEADS OF EXPENDITURE RELATING TO THE PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT, MR. HADDON-CAVE SAID, HE DID NOT THINK ANY INFERENCE COULD BE DRAWN.

+AFTER ALL THERE WERE 12 SUCH HEADS, OUT OF A TOTAL OF 69, ACCOUNTING FOR OVER 28 PER CENT OF TOTAL EXPENDITURE IN 1975-76.

+AND, IN FAIRNESS, THERE IS ANOTHER POINT TO BE MADE: NOT ALL OF THE DECISIONS WHICH ATTRACTED CRITICISM IN THE RELEVANT PARAGRAPHS OF THE REPORT WERE TAKEN BY THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS OR MEMBERS OF HIS STAFF,+ HE SAID.

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