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Parliamentary Questions


Question On Notice No. 6487 asked in the Legislative Assembly on 15 October 2020 by Mr S.K. L'estrange

Question Directed to the: Minister for Local Government; Heritage; Culture and the Arts
Parliament: 40 Session: 1


Question

I refer to the Minister’s answer to Question on Notice 6287 in which he advised that the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries does not record specific costs for individual inquiries, and I ask:
(a) Can the Minister explain this answer given s8.15A of the Local Government Act 1995 provides that a local government may have to meet inquiry costs which would make it a necessity for the Department to keep a record of the resources spent on any inquiry?

Answered on 19 November 2020

(a) There are 2 separate types of Inquiries allowed under the Act:

Authorised Inquiry:

Authorised by the Director General and undertaken by Authorised Officers from within the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries. These are considered core activities for the Department and as such they are not costed.

There are extraordinary situations where the Department may contract an external technical expert and the cost of this engagement will be recovered.

Panel Inquiry:

These are conducted through the contracted engagement of external personnel. The Act allows for the Minister to order the recovery of costs where there are adverse findings.