By Michael Burville
MELBOURNE — A campaign to retain the independence of the auditor-general is being waged by individuals and organisations, with the Victorian Council for Civil Liberties taking a leading role. A public meeting on May 14 attracted more than 1000 people, packing out the venue.
On April 24, just one day after Victorian auditor-general Ches Baragwanath released a stinging report on possible corruption within the ambulance system, Premier Jeff Kennett accepted the findings of a panel that will strip the auditor-general's power to directly audit the public sector, and tender this power to private accounting firms.
Opponents of Kennett's proposal see it as a cynical exercise designed to silence criticism and ensure that the government's actions do not come under close scrutiny.
The panel rejected a proposal to allow departments to choose their own auditors, but recommended a system under which the auditor-general will lose the power to directly conduct the audits.
On November 15, the planned review of the auditor-general's office was moved forward from the scheduled date of June 1998; it began immediately.
Since then the auditor-general has released critical reports on civic projects, ministerial portfolios and most recently the report which revealed serious irregularities in contracts made by the Melbourne Ambulance Service.
On May 14, Baragwanath urged Coalition MPs to abandon party politics and vote against the government to protect his office, calling the proposals an ideological experiment. "I am concerned that my independence will be weakened, and that without operational discretion, the role of future auditors-general will eventually become irrelevant."
If the changes proposed to the Audit Act are passed in the spring sitting of parliament, public-sector auditing will be carried out by a firm to be called Audit Victoria.
The review describes Audit Victoria as a "commercially focused government business enterprise, competing with the private sector for audit contracts on neutral terms". All audits would be put to tender, with the successful bidders chosen by an independent panel reporting to the auditor-general.
While the auditor-general would have the right to reject a recommendation in cases of "extreme public interest", he or she would be required to report the reasons to parliament.
Baragwanath asserts that operational discretion is an integral part of his office and cannot be separated from an auditor-general's independence. He told parliament, "I am more convinced than ever that the direction proposed by the review team will lead to a situation in which a future parliament, if confronted by either an oppressive or corrupt government, would be relatively impotent."