The Victorian Public Accounts and Estimates Committee has released the second of its two-part Report on the 2012‑13 Budget Estimates, revealing that there is over $1 billion difference between the State Government’s estimates for revenue from GST and the Commonwealth Government’s estimates for the next four years.

 

In his foreword to the report, Chairman Philip Davis said the Committee had been unable to understand or explain this anomaly.

 

“This may indicate a serious risk – if the Government’s plans are premised on inaccurate data, their practicability may be called into question. It is evident that the data provided by the Commonwealth Treasury must be timely and accurate to enable the Victorian Department of Treasury and Finance a high level of assurance in forecasting,” he said.

 

The report raised questions about  inconsistencies in costing and funding of election commitments, and called for future budget papers to include a list of election commitments and funding details, as well as clear monitoring of funding commitments made since the election.

 

The report also called for the government to publicly disclose information about strategies developed by the Better Services Implementation Taskforce that has been established to assist departments in achieving efficiencies. It also called for greater transparency across a range of reporting requirements, such as asset investment and performance measures.

 

The report can be downloaded here.