The Auditor-General responded on 19 December 2019 to correspondence from Senator Sarah Hanson-Young dated 27 November 2019, requesting an audit into the Federal and South Australian governments’ agreement to reduce SA’s Murray-Darling river water allocation by 100GL and Commonwealth funding provided to increase the use of the state’s desalination plant to replace the water. 

The Auditor-General responded on 22 November 2019 to correspondence from Senator Katy Gallagher dated 25 October 2019, requesting that the Auditor-General conduct an investigation to examine government spending on external contractors and consultants. 

The Auditor-General responded on 14 November 2019 to correspondence from the Minister for Finance, Senator the Hon Mathias Cormann, regarding annual performance statements audits. The Minister requested that the Auditor-General conduct a program of pilot assurance audits of annual performance statements of Commonwealth entities subject to the PGPA Act, in consultation with the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit (JCPAA). The Auditor-General has agreed to the request and proposes to conduct a pilot to audit the 2019–20 performance statements of three entities.

The Auditor-General responded on 20 September 2019 to correspondence from Mr Julian Hill MP dated 3 September 2019, requesting that the Auditor-General conduct an investigation to examine aspects of the family migration program.