Call to broaden Parliamentary Budget Officer’s powers rejected

The Andrews government has been accused of a cover-up after knocking back recommendations to strengthen the Parliamentary Budget Officer’s powers.

Treasurer Tim Pallas MP ahead of last year’s state budget. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

The state government has rejected calls to broaden the powers of the parliament’s budget watchdog.

Concerns have been raised about the restrictive legislative framework which limits the work of Victoria’s Parliamentary Budget Officer.

A parliamentary inquiry last year made 14 recommendations about how its function could be improved, including broadening the office’s powers to bring it in line with its federal counterpart.

But in its response to the recommendations, published on Monday, the government rejected the majority of them.

The PBO was set up to provide policy costing and advisory services to Victorian MPs.

But it must only act at the request of MPs and cannot initiate its own work.

Recommendations to change legislation to provide mandates for the office to publish self-initiated research and budget policy costings were both rejected.

A call to provide the office with greater financial independence was also not supported.

Just five recommendations were supported in principle.

Shadow Treasurer David Davis. Picture: David Crosling

Shadow Treasurer David Davis said the government response to the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee’s recommendations was inadequate.

“Labor hates the idea of proper financial scrutiny and a strengthened role for the independent Parliamentary Budget Office,” he said.

“That’s why it has opposed most of these recommendations.

“Labor’s waste and mismanagement, including of major projects, is weakening the state’s financial position and they will do everything they can to cover their failure.

“While in government, Andrews and Labor have and continue to starve the PBO of funds, starve it of information to do its job under the Act, and allow the public service to ignore without consequence its legal obligations to the Parliamentary Budget Office.”

In its most recent annual report the PBO warned it was being hampered by the effects of “reduced real funding”.

There were concerns the office would be unable to prepare vital independent policy costings in the lead up to the 2022 election.

The government did support in principle the provision of surge funding for the PBO in the financial years prior to and including an election.

In a bombshell report published last year, the PBO accused the Andrews government of hiding the state’s true financial affairs from Victorians.

A Government spokesperson said there was no need for the PBO to duplicate the work of the Department of Treasury and Finance or the independent Auditor-General who provided costings for government business and independently reviewed the Victorian Budget.

“The Government established the Parliamentary Budget Office and we welcome its ongoing work,” he said.