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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 2 Hansard (28 February) . . Page.. 426 ..

MS FOLLETT (continuing):

consultation, efficiency, outsourcing, the public sector reform process and all the rest of it; but what this is about is privatising the jobs of public servants, just as certainly as we have seen this Government privatise other areas of the service by selling off many of the Territory's facilities. Mr Speaker, the Liberal Government is continuing, in this area of IT, with its ideologically driven agenda.

The staff circular reports the outcome of a review of information technology services in the ACT Public Service which was conducted by two private sector firms, Planning and Support Inc. and Price Waterhouse. Their conclusions included this statement:

... the best way to obtain the benefits of standardisation and rationalisation of the existing environment is by implementing an outsourcing strategy.

What a surprise, Mr Speaker! As Christine Keeler once said, "Well, they would say that, wouldn't they?". What else would you expect? It is informative to read further into the staff circular. It states:

The Government has endorsed the findings of the review and will move quickly to implement the changes.

It goes on:

Agencies will market test for their applications development and support services on an individual basis.

That is an interesting concept, Mr Speaker - testing the market for privatisation. What a joke! One can really imagine that the private sector is going to say that it does not want the business. Inevitably, Mr Speaker, private sector providers will seek the work, and the Government has already decided that they will get it. The staff circular is well named. It is circular. The arguments in it are all circular. It continues:

A market testing program will be implemented to determine the level of benefits that can be achieved through a more systematic approach to outsourcing of IT services.

That is indeed curious, Mr Speaker. The proposal now is that the level of benefits of outsourcing will be assessed. But, of course, the Government has already decided that outsourcing - that is, privatisation - will occur. They have taken that decision. I believe that that strategy would have done the Queen of Hearts proud. We have the verdict first and then the trial. Mr Speaker, to quote even further from the staff circular, it says:

As part of the implementation process, outsourcing contractors will be able to make offers of employment to IT staff employees within the ACT Public Service.

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