Senator LUNDY (2:19 PM) —My question is to Senator Ellison representing the Minister for Finance and Administration. Is it true that government departments and agencies paid in excess of $1 billion in rent last financial year? Is it true this figure exceeds by at least $100 million the total proceeds of the sell-off of 57 government properties over the past three years? In light of these figures, has the government revised its earlier estimate of the point at which the benefits of the property sale are outweighed by the cost of property rental, or does the original estimate of 2003-04 still stand?

Senator ELLISON —This government has reformed the management of Commonwealth property, which was centralised and inefficient under the previous Labor government. The Commonwealth has always rented a large proportion of its offices. Taxpayer capital that is currently tied up in the ownership of buildings can often be better utilised in high priority areas such as health and education, which provide a better return to the community. The Commonwealth is a large organisation and, like any other large organisation, it has considerable and diverse accommodation needs to fulfil all of its functions. In some cases, more permanency is needed, and in others it is not. We have placed greater reliance on the established expertise of the private sector to provide and manage accommodation to the Commonwealth, and this is a great step forward compared with the centralised and inefficient system that existed previously. We reject entirely any criticism of the management of Commonwealth property. We have introduced a more efficient, modern way of dealing with taxpayers' property and funds.

It is interesting that the opposition are attacking us. They might well look at Centenary House. I think Senator Ian Campbell was long on the trail of that, where we had a lucrative deal tied up with a government agency, and the ALP certainly did not mind receiving the rent from that.

Senator LUNDY —I have a supplementary question. Again, I ask the minister—and if he is not able to answer this, I would ask him to take it on notice—what is the government's current estimate of the crossover point where the cost of rent outstrips the proceeds from the sale of properties? Is it still 2003-04, as it was in August 1997, or has it already been passed?

Senator ELLISON (Special Minister of State) —The approach adopted by the government is a satisfactory one, in view of the efficiencies that are returned and the saving of taxpayers' money. The government is firmly of the view that the policy that we have in relation to the management of taxpayer funded assets is a much more preferable one than the inefficient one that existed with the previous government.