30 MARCH 2010

Auditor-General’s inquiry into certain types of expenditure in Vote Ministerial Services

On 2 March 2010, the Auditor-General, Lyn Provost, released terms of reference for an inquiry into certain types of expenditure in Vote Ministerial Services that provide or have the potential to provide private benefit to a Minister. The inquiry was initiated by the Auditor-General after separate requests from the Prime Minister, Mr Phil Heatley MP, and the Department of Internal Affairs.

The purpose of the inquiry was to:

• audit the expenditure incurred by Mr Heatley’s ministerial office from when he became a Minister in November 2008 until he resigned from his ministerial portfolios for Housing and Fisheries on 25 February 2010;

• review the rules, policies, and procedures to see whether they are appropriate and effective, and identify any improvements that can be made; and

• consider any other matters that the Auditor-General considers relate to, or arise from, the above.1

This report addresses the first part of our inquiry’s terms of reference. We summarise the general principles that apply to public expenditure where there could be private benefit and our overall findings and conclusions, followed by a detailed report about our audit of Mr Heatley’s ministerial office’s expenditure. We intend to report separately on the remaining parts of our terms of reference.

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Full report: voteministerialservicespart1.pdf

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