The ACT government has brought in an external auditor to investigate after Floriade blew its budget by at least $100,000 last year, as its top official admits issues of "probity and integrity" could be at play.
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During estimates hearings on Friday, Canberra Liberals leader Alistair Coe grilled officials from the government's events division about a potential overspend at last year's flower festival.
Chief Minister, Treasury and Economic Development Directorate Deputy Director-General Kareena Arthy was unable to put a figure on the blowout, and revealed that they'd hired auditors Protiviti to determine the extent of the damage.
"So we’re looking at what, $1 or $2 million or something? What sort of amount?" Mr Coe said.
"I think it’s premature for us to give you a decent steer. We’ve contracted an external group to come in and help us finalise the accounts so we’re hoping next month we will have the figures," Ms Arthy said.
"This is obviously cause for concern if you think you have to bring somebody else in to assist with it. You must have a idea of the direction it’s going. Are we looking at $100,000? $1 million? $2 million? Or more?" Mr Coe said.
"We are looking in the vicinity, certainly more than $100,000 but again I can’t give you any more specifics until we actually see," Ms Arthy said.
Ms Arthy said the events division had lost eight staff since last year's Floriade, partly due to the new direction the agency was headed in, and they no longer had the "corporate memory" to distinguish which invoices were for the 2016, 2017 and 2018 festivals.
"With the change of personnel and the records that we had available to us it wasn’t exactly clear which invoices related to prepayments as opposed to last year's delivery as opposed to tidying up the 2016," Ms Arthy said.
Mr Coe asked if there were "any probity or integrity issues associated with the overspend".
"I have asked the organisation we have got coming in to provide me with some assurance around that," Ms Arthy said.
"Right but that is an open question?" Mr Coe said.
"That is one of the open questions." Ms Arthy said.
The government's strategic finance arm was currently looking at how they could fund the overspend before the end of the financial year, Ms Arthy said.
Treasurer Andrew Barr said he had not been approached for an advance "at this point", but "we will see".
"There will be underspends in the directorate, I’ve been advised of that, and my hope is those underspends will more than account for any overruns in relation to Floriade, noting that Floriade is a relatively small component of the total directorate’s budget," Mr Barr said.
"Nevertheless that does not mean that the processes around the management of Floriade in the future, this has demonstrated there were problems and they need to be addressed and they are being addressed."
Mr Barr said it was "conceivable" spending had been pared back in some areas to compensate for the Floriade blowout.
He said the government was looking to outsource the delivery of more events, as it moved into more of an oversight role.
While he admitted there needed to be major changes to Floriade to keep attracting return visitors, Mr Barr ruled out any entry fees for the event.
More than 434,000 people attended last year's Floriade, the festival's 30th year.
