Page 3522 - Week 11 - Thursday, 14 October 1993
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work through because the separation of one service from the other has a great impact on those people who work within it. They are the ones who are going to have to carry us into the next century, they are the ones we are going to have to work with, and it is most important that they are part of the process.
In closing, Madam Speaker, I would like to say a few words about the relationship between the separate service project and enterprise bargaining, which, of course, is important because it is all happening at the same time. I suppose that that complicates issues even more; nevertheless, they are issues that have to be addressed. The separate service project primarily is about taking us to a point where our public service can become totally independent of the Commonwealth Public Service. For a lot of public servants that is a big move. Many of them would have been members of the Commonwealth service for a long time and to take that step is one that they will want to think about very carefully. They will want to know all of the ins and outs of the issues that will affect them and their future. However, in another sense it is just one step along the path of public sector reform. Mr Kaine spoke of that, asking questions about what was going to happen. In many ways the final design will be the product of the consultation process and the implementation process. It has to be that way.
Many of the other steps will result from enterprise bargaining - the restructuring steps in particular - which is a process under which the Government and unions negotiate improved productivity in the public sector. I have talked about that at some length in the past; nevertheless, it is a very important part of this process. It complicates the transition, but it is a worthwhile complication in some ways. Some of the productivity improvements from enterprise bargaining are returned to employees in the form of improved terms and conditions, with the result that enterprise bargaining is something which benefits the Government, employees and the community. The creation of a separate public service will give us, as you would all appreciate, increased control over the destiny of our public sector, thus giving us more flexibility to negotiate productivity.
Madam Speaker, whilst there are some challenges in the separation of the service, there are some obvious benefits that will be available, not only to the Government and to the people involved but also to the community, because we will have, as a result of the combination of those two activities - the separation and enterprise bargaining - the opportunity to develop some restructuring and at the same time end up with a more efficient public service, one of which we can all be proud and one which continues to provide the services which are directed by the government of the day. That really is what it boils down to. The government of the day is going to be the one that will decide on the quality of service which is provided. What we are doing in the process of enterprise bargaining is ensuring that we have a public service that will deliver the quality of service to the community that we, the Labor Government, wish for the community as a result of our representation of them well into the future, we trust.
MS FOLLETT (Chief Minister and Treasurer) (4.39), in reply: I would like to address a couple of the comments made by members in this debate and I will speak very briefly. Madam Speaker, Mr Kaine raised in particular the question of what the public service would be like, and I think that deserves some reply. The ACT public service, like all public services, has as its aim, its prime function, the implementation of the policies and programs of the government of the day.
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