Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Senator Ludwig. I refer to the import clearance program industry equalisation reserve, which is industry money held by the government to buffer fluctuations in cost recovery mechanisms and reduce the need to constantly change industry fees and charges. At additional estimates we were informed that the import clearance program industry equalisation reserve would be 'around $10 million in surplus' by the end of the financial year. That was a projected decrease of just over $14 million for the year. Last week we were advised that there was an area in the statement made at estimates and the estimated balance of the IER at the end of the financial year would actually be a deficit of $10 million, a deterioration of over $24 million. What is driving this drastic reduction in the Industry Equalisation Reserve? What is the money being spent on? Is the money being spent on out of control cost overruns on the development of new government IT systems?