The Officers of Parliament who apply independent scrutiny to government's actions face an increasingly complex, changing, and demanding environment that puts additional pressure upon their resources.
This was canvassed in last night’s motion on the Estimates for Officers of Parliament which MPs have agreed to. As discussed yesterday the motion is effectively about Parliament telling the Government how much to fund the Ombudsman, the Auditor-General, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment - the three entities whose job it is to hold to account government’s use of public funds, legal accountability and environmental stewardship.
Minister of Finance Grant Robertson answers questions during the first Question Time of the 53rd Parliament Photo: ©VNP / Phil Smith
The matter of how much these three entities require in order to do their work is considered at depth by the cross-party Officers of Parliament Committee. Their report with some advice available to them from Treasury officials.
This appropriation is introduced separately from the rest of the overall Budget - which gets introduced next week - which emphasises the independence of these Officers of Parliament from the executive.
Pandemic pressures
Moving the motion, the Finance Minister Grant Robertson said the committee’s considerations made clear the work of the three entities has been significantly complicated by the pandemic, especially the Auditor-General.
“The Auditor-General is facing larger than usual deficits over the next three years, which the committee informs us is due to increasing audit complexity mostly relating to COVID-19, pressure on auditors' capacity and availability, and audit costs rising faster than audit fees while Audit New Zealand works to increase its staffing.
“The committee therefore have agreed that a non-recoverable capital injection, totalling $16 million over three years, of $2 million in this financial year, $7 million in the next, and the remainder in the following year are appropriate.
“Audit delays because of COVID-19 and higher staff turnover are an issue. The committee has told us that the Auditor-General is addressing these issues with approaches that include raising fees and seeking greater financial efficiencies,” Robertson explained.
The minister said that COVID-19 also had ongoing impacts on the work of the Ombudsman, whose responsibilities have expanded in recent years, encompassing managed isolation and quarantine facilities, the protected disclosure Act investigations, and enhanced oversight of Oranga Tamariki, the Ministry for Children.
Checks and balances
As the Green Party’s Jan Logie pointed out, the findings that sometimes arise from the work of the Officers of Parliament can be uncomfortable for a government. She was talking about governments generally, adding that the possibility always exists that governments could choose to run down their funding to lessen scrutiny and accountability.
“The funding for these agencies, the decisions about it, go to a committee that's chaired by the Speaker and includes every party in this House. And as you'll see tonight, they came to consensus around the funding of these organisations. I think it's one of those really important moments to note, of our Parliament collectively standing by the importance of scrutiny.
“I look forward to the day when the funding for our Parliament also goes to that committee, because if we believe in the concept of scrutiny and the importance of de-politicising that, then I believe that this very place, the funding for this place should also go to that committee on the same principle.”
Underlining the importance of taking this appropriation out of the normal Budget process, Logie said she wouldn't want to see this being put up against funding for nurses or teachers, for example, recognising that ‘scrutiny’ is not a publicly appealing idea.
“You talk Ombudsman, most people have no idea what the Ombudsman does, sorry Justice. But that is the reality—and most people have no idea about the audit process either. But it's absolutely essential to the checks and balances of power.”
Green MP Jan Logie in the House Photo: ©VNP / Phil Smith
Meanwhile, in this Budget round the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment hasn’t sought an increase to its appropriation of around $4 million a year.
