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PARLIAMENTARY REMUNERATION TRIBUNAL

Report and Determination pursuant to section 12 of the Act

1. On 4 March 2002 the Premier of NSW, the Hon Bob Carr MP issued the Tribunal with a special reference pursuant to section 12 of the Parliamentary Remuneration Act 1989, to review the Logistic Support Allocation (LSA) for Members of the Legislative Assembly (LA).
2. The Premier advised the Tribunal of the desirability of Members of the LA communicating in writing with their constituents on a regular basis and how the current allocation was insufficient for this purpose.
3. The Tribunal wrote to all Members of the LA inviting submissions. The Tribunal has received a number of submissions from individual members and Parties. The Tribunal has also received a detailed submission from the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, the Hon John Murray MP. All submissions received have been supportive of the idea of additional resources to permit biannual mailouts to constituents.
4. The Speaker has provided detailed costings on mailouts under various scenarios and using different materials and posting methods. He has advised that the most popular form of communication is the "newsletter" printed on A3 sized paper printed on both sides that equates to 4 single sided A4 sheets.
5. Because of the limited funding in the LSA such newsletters are issued as "Householder" mail and delivered by volunteers. This, it is submitted by the Speaker, is an inefficient means of communicating.
6. The Legislative Assembly is comprised of 93 electorates each represented by a Member directly elected by the constituents of that electorate. It is important, therefore, that each Member has the ability to communicate with his/her constituents and advise them of issues affecting the electorate.
7. The Tribunal accepts that the most appropriate means of achieving this is for the Member to write to each constituent, either by letter or newsletter, and although more expensive would achieve a higher success rate than generic, hand delivered letter drops.
8. Because of the significant costs involved and to ensure that the funds are not used for any other purpose the Tribunal, rather than enhancing the existing Communication - non Electronic" component of Member's LSA, will make a new allocation specifically for this purpose. The allocation for this determination will deal only with the production, printing and mailing of correspondence for this financial year whereas the full year allocation, commencing 1 July 2002, will be determined as part of the annual review process.
9. The Tribunal, therefore, proposes to amend the existing determination by establishing a new entitlement for Members of the Legislative Assembly to be known as "Electorate Mailout Account."
10. Because the purpose of the Account is for the Member to communicate with each constituent in his/her electorate the Tribunal proposes to express the entitlement on a "unit cost per copy" basis. Attached to the determination is an extract from the Electoral Roll produced by the State Electoral Office showing the number of Electors in each electorate. Each Member will be entitled to an allocation based on that number of electors. These numbers will be reviewed annually in time for the annual determination.
11. The Tribunal has also determined conditions to ensure adequate accountability and transparency is provided.

DETERMINATION

Pursuant to section 12 of the Parliamentary Remuneration Act 1989, the Tribunal determines that each Member of the Legislative Assembly be provided with an annual entitlement as shown at Annexure 1 for the specific purpose of preparing and distributing letters/newsletters to each constituent in his/her Electorate.

For the current financial year the allocation will be as per Column A of Annexure 1.

The conditions applicable to this determination are as set out in Annexure 2.

The Hon Justice R Boland

Parliamentary Remuneration Tribunal

ANNEXURE 1

ANNEXURE 1

ANNEXURE 1

ANNEXURE 2

Conditions applicable to the Electorate Mailout Account

1. Each member is to have an Account entitled the Electorate Mailout Account.
2. The Electorate Mailout Account shall be established and maintained by the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly. Members should be advised by the Clerk each month as to the balance of their Account.
3. Members are to fund the cost of preparing, printing and posting letters/Newsletters to each constituent in his/her electorate and for no other purpose.
4. All procurement by Members will be in accordance with the Parliament's purchasing policies.
5. No supplementation to the allocation will be considered. Any additional costs are to be met from the Member's Logistic Support Allocation.
6. Unused funds are to be returned to the Consolidated fund at the end of each financial year.
7. All accounts must be submitted to the legislature for payment within 60 days of receipt.

Advice of the Secretary of Treasury Pursuant to Section 12A of the Parliamentary Remuneration Act, 1989

The following comments on the Parliamentary Remuneration Tribunal's 2002 special determination are made pursuant to Section 12A of the Parliamentary Remuneration Act, 1989 by the Secretary of the Treasury.

Financial Implications

The financial impact in 2001-02 will be in the order of $2.78m for newsletters to be sent to each constituent based on $0.65 per mailout. In the forward years this will rise to $5.6 million per year (based on two mailouts per year) and will continue to be based on the actual number of constituents.

Accountability and Control

The proposal will require the establishment of a new Electorate Mailout Account within the Logistic Support Allocation for members of the Legislative Assembly.

Appropriate conditions have been proposed to ensure proper accountability and transparency over the use of the funds.