Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Climate Action, Environment and Heritage) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the minister in relation to portfolio budget related paper No. 1.7—it is the portfolio papers for the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. There are three parts to my question. Firstly, what is the total number of staff within the department and what is it expected to be over the course of the next four years? Secondly, what is the average cost per staff member, full-time equivalent, which has been budgeted? I am happy for that to include salary, all personal emoluments, their proportion of building costs, travel—all reasonable allocations for a staff member. Thirdly, how does that relate when you run through the following departmental program support applications: program 1.1, 1.2, 2.1, machinery of government changes, 3.1, 4.1, 5.1 and 5.2? By my calculation that approximates to about $1.95 billion, which appears to be a very significant figure for departmental program support. I would like to understand: firstly, the total number of staff; secondly, the average allocated cost per head for full-time equivalents; and, thirdly, how that compares with a four-year $1.95 billion allocation for departmental program support.

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