10. Dr the Hon LOCKWOOD SMITH (National—Rodney) Link to this
to the Prime Minister
How much has the Ingram inquiry cost to date?
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN (Deputy Prime Minister) Link to this
As the Prime Minister has told the member in the past, information on costs will be released when the inquiry is complete and all costs are known. She does not consider progress reports on costs to be appropriate, as they could be deemed to be placing pressure on the inquiry.
Dr the Hon Lockwood Smith Link to this
Is it correct that the cost for the first 4 months of the inquiry was approximately $30,000 per month; if so, has the inquiry, originally set for 9 working days yet still uncompleted after 9 months, now cost taxpayers more than a quarter of a million dollars?
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN Link to this
The information on costs connected with the inquiry is not ready, but it is perhaps useful to remind members opposite that inquiries are always expensive and that they call for at least four or five a day.
Dr the Hon Lockwood Smith Link to this
Why was the head of the Prime Minister’s department unable to answer questions at the Finance and Expenditure Committee last week on the cost of the inquiry so far, when the Prime Minister had to seek from Cabinet approval for an additional appropriation of $119,681 to cover the cost of the inquiry for just the first 4 months and is clearly monitoring the costs closely?
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN Link to this
Those costs come in from time to time, as I am sure a number of the member’s colleagues will tell him. We will not know the final cost until the inquiry is complete.
Dr the Hon Lockwood Smith Link to this
Who is causing the delay in the completion of the report: Taito Phillip Field and his legal counsel, Noel Ingram QC, or the Prime Minister?
Dr the Hon Lockwood Smith Link to this
If it is not the Prime Minister, how much longer is she prepared to allow the inquiry to drag on at a cost to the taxpayer of roughly $1,000 a day?
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN Link to this
I am sure that if the Prime Minister was to attempt to speed up the inquiry, the Opposition would accuse her of interfering with its independence.