Aiiditor-General’s View

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29240, 25 June 1960, Page 14

Aiiditor-General’s View

(Mew Zealand Press Association)

WELLINGTON. June 24.

When the Government announced its intention to build the Nelson railway, the Audit Office questioned the legality of th£ proposed expenditure and wrote to the Prime Minister (Mr Nssh), telling him so, the Auditor-General (Mr A. D. Burns) said in his report, tabled in Parliament today. The Auditor-General said: “In vifew of the definite stipulation in the Public Works Act that a special act of Parliament is required for the construction of every railway, the announcement, before the end of the financial year, that work was to start though an authorising act had not been passed, caused the Audit Office to question the legality of the proposed expenditure.

“The matter was further complicated in that though provision for preliminary work had been made in the Supplementary Estimates, no funds were voted for construction work.” The Auditor-General said he told the Government the Audit Office had sometimes assisted the Government of the day by agreeing to pass expenditure on receiving an assurance that validating legislation would be promoted. The letter to Mr Nash said the lack of appropriation could be overcome possibly by charging expenditure in the meantime to .“unauthorised” expenditure, in the terms of the Public Revenues Act, but this would not overcome the definite prohibition of the Public Works Act.

The report said the Government asked the Solicitor-General 'Mr H. R. C. Wild) to comment on the legal position and he repljed that when, as the result of paeliminary work, the Government was in a position to proa special act would be re-

quired to authorise the actua! construction.

The report said an assurance was received from the Commissioner of Works (Mr F M. H. Hanson) that no construction work was involved and the Audit Office then passed the expenditure.