Mr ANOULACK CHANTHIVONG (Macquarie Fields) (17:15): I wish to make a contribution to this debate on the Parliamentary Budget Officer Amendment Bill 2018 and to support the amendments that are being moved by my colleague the Member for Keira and Shadow Treasurer—New South Wales's next Treasurer on 23 March.
Fiscal reform has been around for quite some time, particularly for independent fiscal institutions. Other jurisdictions have had non-partisan, independent fiscal bodies to support their parliaments or respective democratic institutions so that they can make better policies. Our friends in the United States have had the Congressional Budget Office since 1974. Our good friends in Canada have had a Parliamentary Budget Officer since 2008. The United Kingdom calls it the Office of Budget Responsibility, which has been in place since 2010. Even our friends in Sweden have the Swedish Fiscal Policy Council, which was established in 2007. Our southern neighbours the Victorians have had a Parliamentary Budget Office since 2017 and the Federal Government has had a Parliamentary Budget Office since 2012.
All of these institutions are permanent, non-partisan, fully staffed and well budgeted to support each and every member—I repeat, those offices support each and every member—to have their ideas costed and to understand the economic and fiscal impacts. It assesses not only the cost of the establishment of their ideas or policies but also the potential ongoing costs. As we all know some ideas have not only an establishment cost—a capital expense—but also recurring costs. Surely having a parliamentary budget office can only be beneficial for our communities as it contributes to our civic and democratic debate because all members have access to resources that allow them to have their ideas assessed—particularly ideas that are pertinent to their local communities.
Fiscal reform is not a temporary measure. A permanent Parliamentary Budget Officer [PBO] is in the best interests of our Parliament, of every parliamentarian and of the people they represent. Policy ideas do not just come about two, three or six months out from an election. Good ideas take time and require wide consultation. Good ideas require a wide range of skills. Nobody in this Chamber has every set of skills required. We all come from different backgrounds and we have different sets of personal circumstances and qualifications. Surely, having a much better, level playing field for all members will enable us to have greater contestability of ideas in this Chamber. Such contestability is the central part of the much bigger picture which a permanent PBO can achieve.
To have fairness in that contestability we need all members to have access to resources. It is all fine and dandy if you are a member of the Government because the bureaucracy is there to serve the elected Government—and so it should—but for Opposition members or Independent members the resources are not available. Opposition and Independent members want to make a contribution. They want to be able to put before the Parliament ideas that are fully costed—ideas that have been assessed independently and in a non-partisan way—and test those ideas in the Chamber. That is the broad point that needs to be made, and has been made by my colleagues the Member for Keira and the Member for Wollongong on this issue.
Fiscal reform is a permanent process. A result of having a Parliamentary Budget Officer is that the behaviour of members in this Chamber changes because we can come here with ideas that are fully financed, fully fledged and fully thought through. That can only be a good thing, because members can go out to our communities, and tell them of the ideas that we have. We may make real differences as we contest these ideas. This will have a flow-on effect in the depth of civic debate about finances. Therefore there will be fewer accusations or people timewasting by saying, "How much will that cost?" Members will know because it has been costed by a permanent Parliamentary Budget Officer who should be part of Australia's largest economy, that of New South Wales.
Our southern neighbours, the Victorians, have a permanent body but New South Wales does not. I find that hard to fathom because it is a sensible reform for the people of New South Wales. We should have a permanent Parliamentary Budget Officer and the amendments put forward by the Member for Keira will also take into account the timeliness during a caretaker government and immediately before. Reducing the number of days allows more policy costings to be done in a shorter timeframe and will improve the level of contestability. At the moment, without a permanent PBO in New South Wales, there is an imbalance in the power and influence in the way that members can contribute their ideas in debates.
Independent fiscal institutions have been around for a long time. New South Wales must come to the fold in having an institution that can play a role in our policy-making process. Every member has something to contribute. Every member has valuable ideas. Members need these ideas to be costed, tested and fully financed so that they can understand their full impact. Government resources are always very scarce, as we all know. Our budgets are always being stretched but an independent institution will allow us to understand the financial impact of our ideas and allow us to prioritise them.
If New South Wales is to move forward with its fiscal reforms it surely must have a permanent Parliamentary Budget Office—an office that is fully staffed and resourced. It will help Opposition and Independent members, our Parliament and our people. That is the big picture that we need to look at. Public distrust of parliamentary institutions is increasing and this is one way—albeit a small way—for us to engage in a much more detailed and specific debate about our policies and ideas. Parliament is about the contest of ideas—ideas that come with economic and financial consequences. I hope the Government will support the amendments that have been made by my colleague the shadow Treasurer and agree with Labor's ideas about a more permanent independent fiscal institution because, frankly, we are way behind the eight ball and have been for far too long. This State needs to get moving.
