The Minister for Industry and Trade, Mr. Foley, had continued to ignore warnings from the Auditor General about significant accounting control deficiencies in his Department, Shadow Treasurer Rob Lucas said today.
This year’s Auditor General’s Report states:
“…Staff who processed expenditure transactions on behalf of the Department did not have a signature register to verify transactions were authorised by officers with delegated authority.”
“Put simply, what this means is that payments are being made for the Department ($46 million in 2005/06) without sufficient checks to ensure proper approval has been given,” Mr. Lucas said.
“Without a signature register, there is obviously am increased risk of fraud or improper practices occurring within the Department.
“The most concerning factor about this issue is that the Rann Government was given similar warnings in last year’s Auditor General’s Report.
For example, the Auditor General in 2004/05 reported:
“…Absence of a signature register to enable Accounts Payable officers of the service provider to verify payments were authorised by a financial delegate prior to payment of an invoice.”
“Mr. Foley must now explain why he and his Department have just ignored these warnings from the Auditor General,” Mr. Lucas said.