The Hon. (Dr.) Nishantha Samaraweera

¶ 01 Thank you very much, Hon. Deputy Speaker.

¶ 02 Today we are prepared for an important debate. The public’s interest in the audit process is high. Yet, we saw a frightened Opposition this morning wasting half an hour to an hour with a media show, squandering valuable public time.

¶ 03 The previous speaker from the Opposition claimed that under the new National Audit (Amendment) Bill, responsibilities earlier vested in the Auditor-General have been removed and given to another committee. I say: read the Bill properly. It appears he skimmed a page or two at dawn. Under Act No. 19 of 2018, the wings of the Auditor-General and the Department were clipped, curtailing the space to act freely. Now we seek to make it a power-bearing law.

¶ 04 Previously, when the Auditor-General observed misuse of funds given to institutions—embezzlement, corruption, abuse—he could only report to Parliament. He could not refer matters to the CID, the Bribery or Corruption Commission, or legal authorities. We are pleased this is corrected.

¶ 05 From 1983 to 2018 it took about 25 years to craft that law, yet it clipped the National Audit Service. Today we are restoring those wings—empowering the Auditor-General to take findings and trigger legal action against theft, waste, corruption and abuse.

¶ 06 Instead of a blind-ended process where reports just came to Parliament and then stalled unless COPE or COPA took them up, the Auditor-General will now be able to refer specific findings with recommendations to a newly established Independent Surcharge Review Committee. That committee, appointed by the Constitutional Council upon recommendation of the Auditor-General for the first time, will direct the Chief Accounting Officer on surcharge processes and can call back the Auditor-General for data if needed.

¶ 07 Earlier, even a culpable person could drag matters through a Surcharge Appeals Committee, Appeal Courts or Supreme Court to evade consequences. Now it is streamlined: if dissatisfied with a surcharge determined by the Independent Surcharge Review Committee, a person may appeal to the Court of Appeal—speeding accountability.

¶ 08 Crucially, where a Chief Accounting Officer is implicated, the committee can have the Cabinet Secretary issue the surcharge certificate and proceed, avoiding conflicts.

¶ 09 Our Government—elected by the people expecting consequences for those who abused public wealth—is delivering. The Opposition today tried to weaken this process and wasted public time with media theatrics. Society and this Parliament must reject that and move forward. Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker.