The Hon. Sunil Handunnetti — Minister of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development
The Minister argued that earlier governments weakened the audit legislation during its passage in 2018, despite changes in officeholders, and said the present amendments are intended to strengthen it. He recalled his 2018 Hansard position that the law needed effective enforcement powers, citing Kenya’s 2015 Audit Act, and stated that the Bill now empowers the Auditor General to complain directly to the Police, including in relation to Ministries and Departments.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 You cannot deny it, Hon. Rishad Bathiudeen. When this Bill came, Dinesh Gunawardena was the Leader of the House; Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe was Justice Minister; Niroshan Perera was State Minister of Finance. Mangala Samaraweera became Finance Minister from 22.05.2017; Mahinda Rajapaksa became Finance Minister on 26.10.2018. Seats changed hands; that is all. You diluted the law then; today we correct it.
¶ 02 I also said in 2018, Hansard column 1417, that either we give this Bill life — bones, blood, flesh, sinews — or we cast a lifeless dummy upon society. Back then, I cited Kenya’s 2015 Audit Act, which empowered the Auditor General to complain directly to the Police without running in circles. Today, we too bring that power — a clear gain. In 2018, the so-called “good governance” Government rejected such provisions; now we enact them, applicable to Ministries and Departments as well.
Provenance
- Source
- Hansard, Thursday, 11 September 2025 ·No. 1758278142029989 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. Sunil Handunnetti — Minister of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 11 September 2025. No. 1758278142029989. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/1502