Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister Assisting the Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Hansard source

I have a series of questions which I will put to the honourable parliamentary secretary—and which no doubt he will note down and respond to with as much candour as possible! My first question is: when was the new ministerial support unit created within PM&C and what will it do? Was the unit created after consultation with the Prime Minister’s office? What appropriations have been allocated to the new ministerial support unit? How many staff will be employed in the new ministerial support unit? What level and duration are the staff positions within the new ministerial support unit? Has the head of the new ministerial support unit been appointed? If so, at what level and for how long?

In general, what is the total number of staff being employed by Prime Minister and Cabinet? In terms of some of the other offices that have escaped the razor gang of PM&C, $5.2 million is being provided for the creation of the Office of National Security within the department. What is the $5.2 million being spent on precisely? Has the national security adviser been appointed and will he or she represent the head of the office? At what level and for what duration is his or her contract? In developing the office, apparently care had to be given to the resources supplied by the departments or agencies. What are the resources that the other departments or agencies will be committing to the Office of National Security? Will the Office of National Security be housed in the current Prime Minister and Cabinet building?

The Office of Work and Family has been established and $7.9 million is being provided for the creation of the Office of Work and Family within the department. What is the $7.9 million being spent on? In developing the office, apparently care was given to having resources supplied by other departments or agencies. What are the resources that the other departments or agencies will be committing to the Office of Work and Family? What is the $200,000 worth of capital funding contained within Budget Paper No. 2 for the COAG reform council?

The parliamentary secretary mentioned the enhanced strategic capacity of Prime Minister and Cabinet. This is a new item in Prime Minister and Cabinet, and $38.1 million is being provided for the department to take on an expanded role in supporting government within the department. What is the $38.1 million being spent on? It is a very substantial amount of money for supposed enhanced strategic capacity, and I would hope the parliamentary secretary would have details on what exactly that money is being spent on. And $1 million is being spent, as the parliamentary secretary pointed out, on capital funding for IT equipment. How much IT equipment is being purchased? I am after the numbers and type of IT equipment that is being purchased for this new office of enhanced strategic capacity.

The parliamentary secretary also mentioned the new cabinet committee secretariat support. What will these cabinet committees be doing that was not being done before? What are the names of the six cabinet committees that this money provides funding for? How many staff will be employed with this new funding?

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