Page 1162 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 3 April 1990
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In terms of the Public Service as a whole, I accept that restructuring is required; efficiencies can be achieved. But the aim should not be to bring in some private sector consultants to show us how the public sector can be run on a more commercial footing. Private sector management techniques do not necessarily translate well to the public sector. In general, there is no innate reason why public sector activities would operate efficiently if private sector management practices were introduced.
I believe that restructuring and efficiencies can be achieved, but not by simply giving higher salaries to senior executives and performance-based pay to everyone else. What is required is an increase in the non-pecuniary rewards from work. There must be a major delegation of power within the workplace. We must see a change so that the people doing the work have a real say in how that work is done. Like all other decisions, efficiencies should not be imposed but negotiated. That does mean that change will take time, but it is the only way to ensure that the changes and resultant efficiencies are sustainable.
I accept that the ACT is facing a period of tight finances. I accept that this will require a tight rein on spending. But spending cuts should not stand alone. A balanced approach to financial adjustment is required. We need to look at the revenue side of the ledger as well, as I have said. This was the approach being taken by my Government last year.
One of our proposals was a business franchise fee on the X-rated video industry. We all know that this proposal was rejected by the Assembly. However, I would just like to point out that if that tax had been passed, it would have financed the entire cut to education that the Chief Minister appears to be proposing this year - and all of this through a tax paid overwhelmingly by non-ACT residents.
Thus, on the one hand we tried to be innovative in revenue raising, and on the other we were trying to improve the effectiveness by which existing taxes were being collected and address some of the Grants Commission assessed problems. Every one of these revenue proposals we introduced into the Assembly was opposed by the Liberal leaders of this current Government. Their statements since seizing office have further indicated that they have no intention of pursuing a balanced approach.
The Budget statement itself clearly alludes to the Government's removing some of the tax reforms that we introduced last year. More expenditure cuts are all we hear. As I stated earlier, we should not look at the budget as simply an exercise in accounting, but nor should we look at it as solely a service delivery exercise. The budget also affects the performance of our economy.
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