Mr Murphy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, upon notice, on 18 June 2002:

(1) What were the budgeted and actual expenditures for AQIS during the 38th and 39th Commonwealth Parliaments?

(2) Have cost cutting measures implemented during the 38th and 39th Parliaments impacted upon border protection activities of AQIS; if not, has it been able to maintain or enhance its pre-38th Parliament service levels and operational strength?

Mr Truss (Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) —The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows:

(1) Attached is a table that identifies the budgeted and actual expenditures for AQIS during the 38th and 39th Commonwealth Parliaments. If you take into account the functions and associated funding transferred to other parts of AFFA during the middle years in the table, you will note that there has been an increase of about $60 million in expenditure funding provided to AQIS to maintain Australia's strict quarantine arrangements between the two periods.

(2) No cost cutting measures have been applied to the border protection activities of AQIS. Service levels and operational strength have been substantially enhanced since the pre-38th Parliament levels.

Attachment A

Total Expenditure for AQIS during 38th and 39th Parliaments

38th Parliament - 2 March 1996 to 31 August 1998

39th Parliament - 1 September 1998 to 8 October 2001

Notes

These amounts are sourced from AQIS Internal Management Reports. They do not directly align to the estimates provided in the Portfolio Budget Statements statements due to the difference in definition between AQIS as a Business Unit and the Quarantine and Inspection Output.

1 in 1999/00, responsibility for the Chief Veterinary Officer and Chief Plant Protection Officer transferred to a different area of AFFA (Product Integrity). The total budget transferred was around $10.0m.

2 in 2000/01, responsibility for a major portion of the Policy & International Division was transferred to a different area of AFFA (Market Access and Biosecurity). The total budget transferred was around $14.5m.

3 in 2000/01, DoFA applied a 1.3% reduction to all appropriation funding to reflect expected savings through the removal of wholesale sales tax.