Page 1688 - Week 06 - Thursday, 20 May 1993
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If you reward people for getting rid of all their money there is no doubt that that is what most people will try to do. There might be exceptions. Indeed, though you may introduce some useful solutions, there will always be someone who wants to get around a system and who abuses the system. That will happen under any system.
Another area that has some benefit is zero based budgeting. That has been talked about, although it has not been implemented, by any means. What is wrong with the principle of starting again for the next year? Rather than say, "Look, your future budget is going to be tied to what you have spent in the past", why not say, "This is a new year. We are going to look at what you need to carry out the job on behalf of the citizens of Canberra for the coming year or years"? That seems to be something that we could pay more attention to.
One of the ways of identifying the problem of late minute spending would be the more effective use of monthly budgetary forecasts and spending. If you went to the situation where there were drastic differences in one-twelfth of the money being spent each month you could look at the problem before it is too late. As I said, the basic principle here is one that encourages people to do the wrong thing, usually. I think we should change the system to encourage people to do the right thing, to encourage people to save the money and to keep it in case they are to be told at some time in the future that they have to save 2 per cent of their budget. They then say, "Gee, I do not think we can do that", knowing full well that there may be funds that could be saved.
MS FOLLETT (Chief Minister and Treasurer) (3.47): One of the problems that I had with Mr Stevenson's remarks is that the majority of the examples that he put forward were from the Commonwealth's sphere rather than from the ACT's sphere. I only wish that I had a couple of those $2,000m departments who had underspent their budgets operating under my control. That would be a very happy state of affairs.
Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, it has been the hallmark of this Government to maximise the opportunity for debate on budget issues, both within the Assembly and within the wider community, through the consultative processes that we have established. The budget allocation and process decisions are fully considered by the Assembly in the budget session as well as through the Estimates Committee process and the debate on the Estimates Committee's report. Allocation decisions really are not amenable to simple rules. They reflect the mandate that governments obtain through the electoral process. They must also reflect changing priorities and changing community needs in response to changing demographic, social and economic conditions. Social justice objectives, particularly in the current economic climate, have received, and will continue to receive, high priority by the Labor Government in making those allocation decisions. All of these demands, the priorities and pressures, must be accommodated within the resources available, and those likely to be available in future years. This has been particularly the case in recent years, given cutbacks in Commonwealth funding and additional demands due to the impact of the recession.
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