FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT ACT — SPECIAL PURPOSE
ACCOUNTS
399. Hon Dr STEVE THOMAS to the minister representing the
Treasurer:
I
refer to my questions without notice 295 and 346, answered on 7 April and 10
May 2022, on special purpose accounts.
(1) How many of
the Treasurer's special purpose accounts are listed or referenced by
name in today's budget?
(2) Why have only
five of the Treasurer's special purpose accounts, currently holding
around $5 billion, given in the answer to question 346, been listed by name in
the previous budget?
(3) What is the
current balance of each of the other 19 Treasurer's special purpose
accounts, which must add up to around $14 billion?
(4) Why has that $14 billion
sitting in Treasurer's special purpose accounts been hidden from
scrutiny?
(5) Given the
Treasurer's answer to question without notice 346, which said that the
information that I sought would be in today's budget, on what pages can
I find references to each of the 19 missing Treasurer's special purpose
accounts?
Several members
interjected.
The PRESIDENT:
Order!
Hon
STEPHEN DAWSON replied:
I
thank the Leader of the Opposition for some notice of the question. The answer
is provided on behalf of the Treasurer.
(1) Appendix 5, ''Special
Purpose Accounts'', commencing on page 281 of the 2022–23 budget
paper No 3, Economic and fiscal outlook, specifically details information on key special
purpose accounts and states —
It is not an exhaustive list of all
SPAs, but covers major/material SPAs established to achieve priority policy
outcomes.
Ten Treasurer's SPAs are
listed in this appendix.
(2) As outlined
in the answer to (1), the SPA index is not an exhaustive list of all SPAs, but
covers major/material SPAs established to achieve priority policy outcomes.
(3) The balance
of special purpose accounts varies on a day-to-day basis. As at 30 April 2022,
the balance of the 19 accounts was $17.3 billion.
(4) Out of the
19 accounts, the holding account accounted for 97 per cent of the balance,
$16.8 billion, at 30 April 2022. The holding account is not disclosed in the
budget papers, but it is disclosed on pages 217, 218 and 221 of the 2020–21
Annual report on state finances.
(5) See the answer to (2).