Page 4981 - Week 16 - Tuesday, 26 November 1991
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Proposed expenditure - Division 180 - Government Corporate Services, $52,825,600
MR KAINE (Leader of the Opposition) (11.04): This is a program about which it is not possible to say a great deal because it is a new program that has just been put together. I have to say that it was put together by the Alliance Government. What we see here is the result of initiatives taken by the Alliance Government. It is a program which, I suggest, the Assembly members will want to watch very closely in future years because the bringing together of corporate services into a single operation should produce major efficiencies.
It is difficult to say in this first year whether those efficiencies will be achieved or not, because we have nothing against which to compare. We will have to monitor very closely the bringing together of all of these resources, with a budget now in excess of $50m and a predicted staffing level of something of the order of 258. They are massive resources.
I note that the Urban Services Department has just advertised for a person to come in and take over the human resources element of this. It will be a very important job. I am sure that they will be looking for somebody well qualified to take on that job and achieve the savings that can be made here. Beyond that, as I say, it is very difficult to judge whether the provision this year is the right amount or how it might be affected in future. I would certainly expect to see a considerable reduction in this budget next year and in future years.
MR CONNOLLY (Attorney-General, Minister for Housing and Community Services and Minister for Urban Services) (11.06): The Government notes Mr Kaine's words of caution there. He is correct in saying that this was an initiative that was being worked up under his Government. The expectation is that there will be savings by centralising government corporate services. I guess that all the Government can say in response to his words of caution is that we will have to wait and see. If it appears that this is a less efficient way of arranging government finances, no doubt a future government will go back to devolution. The advice that we have is that there are significant savings to be made. As Mr Kaine says, we will wait and see, and hope that it is successful.
Proposed expenditure agreed to.
Proposed expenditure - Division 190 - Public Works and Services, $146,779,300 - agreed to.
Proposed expenditure - Division 200 - Corporate Development for the Department of Urban Services, $6,051,000 - agreed to.
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