On Friday 7 September 2018 Budget Estimates hearings concluded for another year. On the last day the Portfolio Committees examined the portfolios of Education, Roads, Maritime and Freight, Environment, Local Government, Heritage, Western Sydney, WestConnex and Sport.
Features and statistics of this year’s inquiry
This year all six Portfolio Committees resolved that government members would not ask questions. In total, there was almost 50 hours of public hearings with 24 Ministers and 143 public servants answering Committee questions. All hearings were live streamed and across the 7 days of hearings there were over 11,200 views.
A record number of supplementary questions were received following the initial hearings this year, with a total of 7,452. Answers to these questions are due from 25 September to 3 October 2018 and, once received, will be published on the Budget Estimates website.
The week of 8 to 12 October 2018 has been set aside for supplementary hearings. Each of the six Portfolio Committees has deferred their decision on whether to hold supplementary hearings until after they have received answers to the supplementary questions.
A transcript of each hearing, as well as the questions on notice and supplementary questions, can be found on the Budget Estimates website: https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/committees/pages/budget-estimates.aspx