Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Members would be aware that under the Parliamentary Service Act 1999 the Presiding Officers have the responsibility to appoint the Parliamentary Budget Officer, subject to the approval of the proposed appointment by the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit. Given that the current Parliamentary Budget Officer, Dr Stein Helgeby, will not be seeking another term, the President of the Senate and I, in consultation with the Australian Public Service Commissioner, commenced a merit based recruitment process to fill the vacancy. I'm pleased to inform the House that the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit has approved the appointment of Ms Sam Reinhardt as the Parliamentary Budget Officer. Her term will begin on 18 November 2024. On behalf of all members, I congratulate Sam on her appointment, and I'm sure members will join me in thanking Dr Helgeby for his service.

Linda Burney (Barton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As the chairperson of the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit I very much support the appointment of the new Parliamentary Budget Officer. She is incredibly appropriate and has all the prerequisites required for the position. We went through a process to make sure that the appointment was done appropriately. Of course the Parliamentary Budget Officer is a very important role. In many ways it's an apolitical role to make sure the commitments of the government, the opposition and other parties make in relation to elections is looked at impartially, and I'm sure the new Parliamentary Budget Officer will do that.