Office of the Speaker of the NZ House of Representatives
Rt Hon Trevor Mallard

Media Release
Monday 18 February 2019

Financial scrutiny and regional networks on agenda for parliamentary delegation

This week, Andrew Bayly MP, member of the Finance and Expenditure Committee, and Mark Patterson MP, member of the Primary Production Committee, will attend the Commonwealth Association of Public Accounts Committees Regional Workshop for the Pacific, being held in Suva, Fiji.

The workshop is an initiative of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) UK branch, with support from the Westminster Foundation for Democracy and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Pacific, and is hosted by the Parliament of the Republic of Fiji.

“Scrutiny of a government’s spending plans and outcomes is a fundamental role of any parliament and members of public accounts committees and the officials supporting them have a huge role to play in the effective oversight of public expenditure. I am pleased that New Zealand has been able to assist with recent initiatives to support parliaments in the region who may grapple with finite resources, including the UNDP’s Floating Budget Scrutiny Unit, and to participate in workshops such as this” said Rt Hon Trevor Mallard, Speaker of the New Zealand Parliament.

At the workshop, Mr Bayly will present on ‘Innovation in Public Financial Management’ and Mr Patterson will present on ‘Maximising Impact - Outreach and Public Engagement with Committees’. The clerk of the New Zealand Finance and Expenditure Committee chair the session on ‘Working with Witnesses’.

This is an also opportunity to build on workshops held in New Zealand in 2015 and 2017 as the Pacific Public Accounts Committee Network (PaNPAC) will be relaunched. Supported by the New Zealand Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives, the CPA, and UNDP Pacific, the aim of the network is to enhance the capacity of parliaments in the Pacific region to hold governments to account for their use and management of public finances.

The workshop runs from 19 to 21 February 2019.

ENDS

© Scoop Media