OPINION ON MINISTERIAL NOTIFICATION: MINISTERIAL DECISION TO NOT PROVIDE INFORMATION TO PARLIAMENT - COUNTRY AGE PENSION FUEL CARD

Overview

From 1 February 2007, two Acts, the Auditor General Act 2006 (AG Act) and the Financial Management Act 2006 (FM Act) became effective. Section 82 of the FM Act requires Parliament and the Auditor General to be given written notice where a Minister decides that it is reasonable and appropriate not to provide requested information to Parliament. Section 24 of the AG Act requires the Auditor General to form an opinion on the reasonableness and appropriateness of the Minister’s decision. This opinion is reported
to Parliament.

The methodology developed by my Office to form an opinion on the reasonableness and appropriateness of the Minister’s decision was reported to the Parliament in Report 11 of November 2007. The methodology is described in my Audit Practice Statement which can be viewed at http://www.audit.wa.gov.au.

The methodology essentially involves a two-stage approach. In the preliminary stage, an assessment is made as to whether the information is commercially confidential or significant in nature. If not and the Minister’s reason was that it required a diversion of resources, then the opinion will be that the decision was reasonable and therefore appropriate unless it was manifestly unreasonable. If the information is categorised as commercially confidential or significant in nature, then a supplementary review is
undertaken. A range of factors is then considered in deciding whether the decision was reasonable and therefore appropriate.

Between 1 February 2007 and 31 July 2009 I have received 57 ministerial notifications under the FM Act relating to 11 parliamentary questions asked of Ministers. Fifty-six of these notifications came from the Legislative Assembly and one from the Legislative Council.

This report contains my opinion on a Minister’s decision in May 2009 not to provide information to a question asked in the Legislative Assembly in April 2009. It is the first occasion where the Minister’s reason for not providing information was that it was commercially confidential. It is also the first occasion where I have concluded that the advice provided by the relevant government agency to assist the Minister in making the decision was deficient.

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