Page 1666 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 29 May 1990
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with the responsibility for major areas of service delivery.
The board's suggestions do not reflect the arrangements inherent in the accord entered into by the members of the Alliance Government. I have asked my ministerial colleagues for their views on the board's proposals, and the Government will, over the next two weeks, consider how the present organisational arrangements might be changed to take account of the board's recommendations and findings.
The Government has already announced its intention to formally create and grant executive powers to the ACT Hospital Board. As I have already pointed out, the Minister for Health has indicated that the Government intends to transfer control of the Mitchell Health Services Centre to a publicly owned company controlled by an executive board and with a charter to compete more widely for work on a full cost recovery basis.
Consideration is now being given to the transferring of management responsibility for the car and truck maintenance services at present provided by the ACTION special vehicle workshop to the Mitchell board, and to consolidation with other similar organisations carried on by ACT Government Service agencies. Any services transferred would be expected to operate on a competitive footing but, because I am involved in ongoing discussions with some of the unions involved and those discussions are currently taking place, no decision will be made until those discussions have been completed.
Mr Berry: Do not give them any more secret papers.
MR KAINE: Every time I mention the word "unions" Mr Berry goes into a knee-jerk reaction.
Mr Berry: I just wondered whether you were going to give them any more secret papers.
MR KAINE: Just sit quietly, Wayne. I have got better relationships with the unions than you have.
The Government will be actively looking to place further "common services" on a similar cost recovery and competitive basis. At the same time the Government proposes to progressively move to review the need for continued existence of the full range of current ACT statutory authorities. The relevance of many of these bodies under a self-governing arrangement needs to be examined. It is my expectation that, over time, it will be possible to achieve a significant reduction in the number of authorities, both by deregulation and by absorbing the functions of some authorities within normal departmental structures.
Mr Speaker, the Government is not attracted to proposals such as the subsuming of the Treasury into the Chief
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