Senate debates
Thursday, 21 June 2007
Committees
Reports: Government Responses
3:29 pm
Nick Minchin (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance and Administration) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
I present three government responses to committee reports as listed on today’s Order of Business. In accordance with the usual practice, I seek leave to incorporate the documents in Hansard.
Leave granted.
The documents read as follows—
Senate Economics Committee Inquiry into the Price of Petrol in Australia
Recommendations and Government responses
Recommendation | Government response |
Recommendation 1 The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) should review the information on its website and in other publications to ensure this material provides simple, straightforward and concise information, including what individuals can do to reduce personal fuel consumption. | The Government agrees with this recommendation. The ACCC is currently undertaking a review of the structure, content and design of its whole website to ensure that the information provided continues to be relevant, useful and informative to consumers. The review is scheduled to be completed by June 2007 and will include reviewing the information on petrol price cycles and other petrol-related issues which are currently included on the ACCC website. |
The ACCC should conduct spot checks and reporting on a wider range of locations across Australia to provide confidence to a wider range of consumers, particularly people in regional, rural and remote locations. | The ACCC currently monitors petrol, diesel and automotive LPG prices in the five largest metropolitan cities (ie, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth). The ACCC also monitors these prices in Canberra, Hobart and Darwin, and around 110 country towns across Australia and conducts various spot checks on these prices. The ACCC will review the information it provides on its monitoring of country prices as part of its broader review of the information it provides on its web-site, as outlined above. |
Recommendation 2 The State and Territory Governments should review the level of subsidies they provide to ensure they focus on consumers in markets where prices are high because of distance and a small number of retailers. | This recommendation is a matter for State and Territory governments to consider. In 1999, Australian Government, State and Territory leaders signed an Intergovernmental Agreement on the Reform of Commonwealth-State Financial Relations which provides that all goods and services tax (GST) revenue is paid to the States and Territories (the States). Following the introduction of the GST, the excise rate applied to petrol was reduced to compensate for the additional tax that would be imposed under the GST. All GST is returned to the States to spend according to their own budget priorities, and this includes the collections of GST revenue from fuel. The GST revenue is spent according to the States’ own priorities such as health and education, and this includes the option to provide for the subsidisation of fuel. |
Government Response to the Senate Standing Committee on Employment, Workplace Relations and Education
“Perspectives on the future of the harvest labour force”
Department of Employment and Workplace Relations
Theme One – Improved Labour Market Information
The Report noted the absence of empirical data to support claims of a labour shortage in the horticultural sector.
Government Response
The Australian Government will continue to monitor seasonal labour demand and supply issues in the horticulture industry, particularly through the Harvest Labour Service and the National Harvest Labour Information Service (NHLIS).
The Australian Government, through the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR), will continue to closely monitor labour market trends in the horticulture industry, through consultation with key stakeholders (including State and Territory Government Departments, employers and industry bodies) to identify and address the industry’s skill and labour needs.
Theme Two – Practicalities of a Seasonal Contract Labour Scheme
The Report noted that prudence requires the Australian Government to make contingency plans for introducing contract harvest labour in as early as five years.
Government Response
The Australian Government will continue to review temporary and permanent migration arrangements to ensure they reflect the genuine skill needs of Australian industry and do not represent an impost on the Australian economy.
In the case of employer-sponsored migration arrangements, the Australian Government will continue to ensure these arrangements: comply with Australia’s international commitments (including those relating to the movement of natural persons under General Agreement on Trades in Services); do not result in the displacement of Australian nationals; and complement domestic recruitment and training initiatives.
Theme Three – Harvest Labour Initiatives (Supplementary Comment)
The Harvest Labour Trail should be reviewed with a view to expanding the range of services available and streamlining the process of referrals.
Government Response
DEWR will continue to work closely with the NHLIS to monitor harvest labour supply and demand issues to look for solutions to the mobilisation of ‘out of area’ workers to harvest regions. DEWR will investigate the possibility of expanding the NHLIS’s role to examine areas where labour shortages regularly occur. The NHLIS will be responsible for liaising directly with grower and grower groups to raise their awareness of HLS providers, the NHLIS and the Harvest Trail website, and assist them in planning and satisfying their future harvest labour needs.
Government Response to the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Report
‘Review of the Defence Annual Report 2004-05’
June 2007
Recommendation 1
The Committee recommends that the Defence Materiel Organisation provide annual updates on the top ten high risk projects of the year using the Maturity Score methodology, noting that commercial-in-confidence imperatives will apply.
Government response: Agreed
The Defence Materiel Organisation will provide annual updates to the Committee.
Recommendation 2
The Committee recommends that they be provided with an update on the progress of the development of options for the optimum fleet mix to meet the ADF’s future airlift requirements.
Government response: Agreed
Options for the enhancement of ADF airlift capabilities are still under review. It is expected that First Pass consideration for relevant phases of the relevant projects — AIR 8000 and AIR 9000 — will occur in mid-2007.
Recommendation 3
The Committee recommends that an invitation be extended to Defence sub-committee members to observe and/or participate in a security contingency wargaming activity between Defence and relevant government agencies.
Government response: Agreed
Border Protection Command runs a range of exercises with various state, territory and Commonwealth agencies. These are working group level meetings and are particularly focused on developing basic procedures on which Border Protection Command operates.
The Committee is welcome to consider observing these exercises and associated activities.
Recommendation 4
The Committee recommends that Navy report on the utility and effectiveness of the multi-crewing concept once a full Division of Armidale-class patrol boats (for crew rotation purposes) has been delivered.
Government response: Agreed
The multi-crewing program is currently in its initial stages with the first division of multi-crewed Armidale-class patrol boats commencing in mid-August 2006. As further divisions are put into operation, the Navy will be better placed to provide an interim report on the utility and effectiveness of multi-crewing by mid-2007. Initial anecdotal reports are encouraging.
Recommendation 5
The Committee recommends that Defence advise the course of action taken in relation to establishing the general inventory ‘best estimate’ and the results of the assessment/review.
Government response: Agreed
This recommendation relates to the valuation of General Stores Inventory in the Financial Statements. The Inventory items include consumable items, items held for allocation to military personnel and/or units (such as rations packs and boots), and minor generic parts (used to repair items). There are approximately 600,000 stock items in this category. In preparing the 2005-06 financial statements, general stores inventory items were valued on a weighted average costs basis. Where the weighted average cost was not available, Defence endeavoured to use ‘best estimates’ to value these items. Best estimates were based on expert review of comparable items in international military catalogues.
During 2005-06, Defence carried out significant remediation work to address the issues of uncertain quantities, system limitations within Standard Defence Supply System (SDSS) and other business process issues. As a result, some uncertainty exists around the reported balance of general stores inventory as at 30 June 2006.
The use of external valuers will form part of the approach to address legacy general stores inventory pricing issues in developing 2006-07 financial statements.
Recommendation 6
The Committee recommends that Defence report on the ‘highly technical issues’ that have been presented to the Australian Accounting Standards Board for consideration.
Government response: Agreed
As part of the 2005-06 Financial Statement process, Defence has raised a number of ‘highly technical issues’ with the Australian Accounting Standards Board. These include:
- The concept of an asset for not-for profit entities – the current framework for the preparation and presentation of financial statements, prescribes that an asset is recognised when it is probable that the future economic benefits will flow to the entity and the asset has cost or value that can be measured reliably. The concept of future economic benefit is relevant for ‘profit’ entities and not for ‘not-for-profit’ entities such as the public sector. Defence is seeking the replacement of this concept with a concept of service potential/utility;
- Inventory valuation – Defence is seeking an interpretation on the valuation of inventory written down to current replacement cost only when (and to the extent that) there has been a decrease in the service potential of inventory since its acquisition;
- Assessment of assets for impairment – Defence is clarifying whether it is appropriate to adopt the concept of ‘service or utility-generating units’ for determining the level at which assets should be assessed and tested for impairment;
- Treatment of restoration obligations arising from contamination or damage of assets – Defence is clarifying that when contamination or damage occurs through the use of an asset as part of Defence’s ongoing operating activities, the restoration obligation, if any, is also treated as the cost of those operating activities without being capitalised; and
- Extension of unlimited useful lives for assets other than land – Defence is clarifying whether unlimited useful lives could be extended to assets other than land, such as military heritage assets, which are irreplaceable and are managed to ensure that they are maintained indefinitely.
The Australian Accounting Standards Board has acknowledged that these issues warrant further discussion and also stated that any amendments to standards and authoritative interpretations must go through a formal process and, therefore, may take quite some time.
Defence is working with the Department of Finance and Administration and the Australian National Audit Office to further progress technical issues with the Board, in particular, the application of the inventory accounting standard.
Recommendation 7
The Committee recommends that Defence report on the progress of implementation of the ADF Recruiting Strategic Plan 2005-2010, specifically in relation to the conversion ratio of inquiries, to applications, to enlistments and the review of entry requirements.
Government response: Agreed
Defence supports the need for greater transparency and oversight of ADF retention and recruitment, and will provide in the Defence Annual Report a progress report on the implementation of the ADF Recruiting Strategic Plan 2005-2010. Reporting will also include progress in the implementation of the Retention and Recruitment Implementation Strategy, Defence Force Recruiting (DFR) Plan 2006-07, in-year ADF recruiting achievements and development of the new DFR organisation.
Recommendation 8
The Committee recommends that Defence and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs examine, and then report to the Committee, options to better identify affected F-111 deseal/reseal personnel.
Government response: Not agreed
The Department of Veterans’ Affairs is responsible for processing claims for the lump sum benefit, including the determination of eligibility.
Defence continues to provide technical assistance to the Department of Veterans’ Affairs in accessing and interpreting Air Force records including individual service and personnel records, medical records, trade progress sheets, records of training and employment, pay records, photographs, and statements to the F-111 Deseal/Reseal Board of Inquiry.