Concetta Fierravanti-Wells (NSW, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Ageing) Share this | Hansard source

We support Senator Xenophon’s amendment and we would like to make a couple of comments. Of course, this will ensure that the CEO has an obligation to provide details of any recommendations made to the government. It addresses concerns that the coalition has raised that the agency lacked independence and transparency. I must say that there was some great concern about this in the original bill. We believe that the recommendation and advice has to be as transparent as possible, and that it should be open to public scrutiny. By increasing public engagement on the issue of preventative health we are encouraging a dialogue between the public, health and industry sectors.

Before the minister makes further comments I will take this opportunity to ask about the breakdown in the original explanatory memorandum to the bill. In the financial impact statement of the original explanatory memorandum there was a breakdown of funds allocated over the forward estimates. However, this breakdown is not provided in the breakdown to the current bill and thereby restricts the extent to which it can be held accountable. I ask the minister if it was deliberate or if it was simply an oversight that the revised explanatory memorandum does not include the forward estimates?