18 December 2015
I am pleased to publish the periodic financial statements for the first quarter of 2015–16 for the Administration of Norfolk Island (ANI), the Norfolk Island Hospital Enterprise (NIHE), the Norfolk Island Government Tourist Bureau (NIGTB) and the consolidated entity along with a brief summary of the financial position of each entity. These are available on the ANI website.
It is the first time the periodic financial statements have been prepared in the format required by the Commonwealth Finance Minister's (Norfolk Island) Orders 2011 and they are an important tool in demonstrating accountability of public expenditure to the community.
Each entity has achieved a better than budgeted result for the year to 30 September with ANI being ahead of budget by $4.1 million, NIHE being ahead of budget by $119,000 and NIGTB being ahead of budget by $93,000.
However these results are due to expenditure being deferred to later in the year and 2014–15 Australian Government funding being recognised in 2015–16. Noting these factors, ANI and NIHE are still anticipating reporting significant accrual based deficits in 2015–16. Therefore there is still a significant amount of work to be done to achieve long term sustainability and in 2016 the momentum of positive change will need to step up a gear.
This will begin with the development of Strategic and Operational Plans which will be based around the services to be delivered by the Administration for the remainder of 2015–16 and then by the Regional Council in 2016–17 and beyond.
These plans will provide a basis for funding to be allocated according to community needs and priorities. However importantly, the extent of services may need to be reduced to achieve long term savings and changes to work practices will be needed to improve efficiency and productivity. The Strategic and Operational Plans will be released for public discussion when finalised.
The Hon Gary Hardgrave