Page 350 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 20 February 1990
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It is very important that a review of this nature be conducted by people with proven management skills and independence from the present public sector. This will ensure that the Government receives the benefit of impartial opinions and the experience of other States and the private sector. The Government is therefore particularly pleased that Mr Bob White has agreed to chair the review board. He was the Chief Executive of Westpac for 10 years and is on the boards of a number of major companies. The other members of the review board also bring extensive and balanced experience to the work of the board. Their experience includes management consulting, the academic study of public administration, and direct management experience in both the private and public sectors. I am particularly pleased to see the presence of a distinguished Australian woman, Professor Di Yerbury, Vice-Chancellor of Macquarie University, who has been involved in other public sector reviews - a woman whose opinions are highly valued.
As well as advising the Government on how to close the ACT's $100m budget gap, the review board will, as I have already said, develop proposals to improve the overall management performance of the ACT Government Service. This includes recommending measures which should be taken to ensure that the emphasis given to public sector reform does not reduce once the review board has completed its report. The Government has therefore asked the review board members to assess periodically the progress which is being made with implementation of its recommendations. This is a somewhat novel, but very worthwhile change from the way in which such reviews are normally approached.
In conclusion, I emphasise again that the Alliance Government has no option but to embark upon this review. We cannot responsibly ignore the fact that the Commonwealth Government is moving to cut funding to the ACT and that, unless expenditure can also be reduced in a planned way, the ACT community will, within a few years, have to accept the consequences of ad hoc reductions in services.
The Government is determined that the community should not have to pay increased costs or suffer such unplanned disruption to services. The establishment of the Priorities Review Board is our best chance to develop a plan to manage our way out of the financial problems which we have inherited from the Commonwealth. Mr Speaker, I and other responsible members of the Canberra community look forward to the report of the Priorities Review Board as it means a new dawn for the ACT.
MR KAINE (Chief Minister) (8.49), in reply: If there are no further speakers, I would like to tie off the debate with a couple of comments. I have to say, Mr Speaker, that I am rather disappointed that the Opposition took such a peculiar line on this debate and made no contribution whatsoever to the solution of our problems. It is
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