Lucy Wicks (Robertson, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit, I present Report 487: annual report 2020-21.

Report made a parliamentary paper in accordance with standing order 39(e).

by leave—During the past year the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit—or the JCPAA, as we all know it as in the committee—tabled five reports, worked on five further inquiries, considered the budget estimates for the Australian National Audit Office and the Parliamentary Budget Office twice, determined the audit priorities of the parliament, and continued its role in providing accountability and transparency to the public administration of the Commonwealth.

I'm conscious that this is perhaps our last presentation of an annual report for this session of the parliament and I do just want to take a moment—if you'll indulge me, Deputy Speaker—to acknowledge the important work that this committee does for the parliament. It's not a committee I had sat on prior to 2019, but it is a committee that I have grown to have enormous respect for. I have found it to be an incredible honour to participate in the work of this committee, and I thank the committee membership for allowing me to serve as their chair. I'd also like to note that committees such as this really do demonstrate some of the best of the ways that parliament can work.

I would like to take the opportunity to place on record my thanks and acknowledgment to the deputy chair, the member for Bruce, who is in the chamber, who I suspect does not know what I'm about to say. I do want to say to the member for Bruce that I very much appreciate the way in which we have worked together over the course of this term of the parliament. I had perhaps not spoken to you many times before we became colleagues on this committee. We had to work together in quite a close, and what became a very collegiate, manner. I want to thank you personally for your stewardship. I want to thank you for the very professional manner in which you approached the fulsome work of this committee and the way in which we were able to almost always reach agreement or at least consensus on matters that were before the committee. There was often very robust debate, as there should be, and yet I think both of us sought to uphold the bipartisan nature of this committee on behalf of this parliament. I will remember this as something that reflects extremely well on the very best of Australian democracy, the very best of how this parliament should work. To the member for Bruce, I do thank you personally and also on behalf of the committee for all of your contributions and your advice and, as I said, the whole approach of this entire committee over the many different reports and considerations we have had to give.

There were a number of reports that were tabled by this committee into a wide range of topics. Another aspect of this committee that I hadn't actually appreciated until I served as the chair was the breadth of topic and scope that this committee looks into, inquires into, and undertakes. It has been a tremendous learning experience, but also one that I hope will serve me well in the months, and I hope years, to come. Some of the reports include reports and inquiries into, for instance, the operations of the Parliamentary Budget Office, Defence's acquisition of equipment, the administration of grants programs, and the cyber-resilience of Commonwealth agencies.

It was interesting to see different members of the committee taking different particular interests in the various topics. Over the course of this term of parliament we've really seen a strong participation from all committee members in the various reports and the various inquiries. I really want to place on record my thanks and appreciation to all of the committee members for all of their efforts and endeavours. I really do think that it has made many of the recommendations and the reports quite robust. Again, it is a great example of the best of the operations of committees such as this. It really is a great honour and privilege to participate in them.

Of course, the last two years have not always been the easiest, particularly with the restrictions coming with COVID-19 and many of the ways we've had to adapt quickly. Perhaps it took a little bit of time to refacilitate things onto videoconferencing and some of these other things, but I think we have actually adapted to that quite quickly. I note that we actually ended up meeting more times than the average over recent parliamentary years; I think we met 28 times in 2020-21. We really did undertake the role of the committee very seriously while still working within the restrictions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. But because of the pandemic many of the committee's public hearings and private meetings took place remotely.

I also note that 2021 marks 70 years since the Public Accounts and Audit Committee Act received royal assent. For seven decades this committee, the JCPAA, has played what I believe is an incredibly important role in the parliament's oversight of Commonwealth agencies. As I indicated when I commenced my remarks, the committee has really continued to work in a collegial, non-partisan way, and I really do thank all of my fellow committee members for their dedication to the committee and to its work. I have mentioned the deputy chair, the member for Bruce. I also thank the member for Moncrieff, who was here in the chamber just earlier; the member for Boothby; Senator Kitching; Senator McLachlan; Senator O'Sullivan; Senator Patrick; the member for Canberra; Senator Scarr; the member for Jagajaga; the member for Bonner; Senator Walsh; the member for Gellibrand; and the member for O'Connor. The committee's inquiries and all of its activities over the 2020-21 financial year have really benefited from the contribution of all members, as has the work of the committee over the entire term of this parliament.

In closing, can I also pay special tribute to the committee secretariat for their tireless work. It is a big committee, we often have several inquiries underway at once and the workload can be quite intense. I thank every single one of them for their contribution, for their professionalism, for their expert advice and for their support to the committee. I particularly thank and express the committee's appreciation to committee secretary, Joel Bateman, who has really served this committee in an exemplary manner. We thank him very much for all of his tireless efforts. I commend this report to the House.

See this speech in context