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Wednesday, 22 June 2011
Page: 6988

Mr TONY SMITH (Casey) (09:42): I rise today in this House to record the passing of John Taylor a few weeks ago, in May. I read of John Taylor's passing in the Canberra Times last week. John Taylor was Auditor-General for the Australian Parliament from 1988 until 1995. Prior to that he had a distinguished career in the Public Service in numerous positions, including in the PMG, the Public Service Board and the department of trade. He was Consul-General to New York before his career culminated in appointment to the important office of Auditor-General in 1988. He was Australia's 12th Auditor-General. I did not know Mr Taylor, but I remember him from his time as Auditor-General. Many members from that time will remember some of the Auditor-General's reports, including on the sports rorts affair. He was Auditor-General at the time of that issue, but that is not why I speak today. I wanted to take the opportunity to pay tribute to him and recognise the importance of his office.

The position of Auditor-General and the function and role of the Audit Office are both of vital importance within our system of government. As a former chairman of the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit, I have obviously seen firsthand the important work the Auditor-General does. It is for this reason I think the parliament should take the time to pay tribute to Mr Taylor, given his former position. As I said, the role of Auditor-General is critical within our parliament. The checks and balances are vital to a proper functioning democracy, and the oversight provided by the Auditor-General and his office is of critical importance in that regard. This is something we should always recognise within this parliament. It is something that the founding fathers themselves recognised. The Auditor-General's effectiveness is governed not just by the resources he has but, critically, by his independence and the 10-year independent term that he has and his appointment being made by the parliament.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Hon. Peter Slipper ): Order! A quorum not being present, this sitting of the Main Committee is suspended. It will be resumed shortly.

Sitting suspended from 9:45 to 9:48

Mr TONY SMITH: The importance of the role of the Attorney-General was recognised by our founding fathers. In fact the Audit Act 1901 was the fourth act passed by the parliament, coming into effect in January 1902. Its passage followed two supply acts and the Acts Interpretation Act. (Time expired)