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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 11 Hansard (26 September) . . Page.. 3616 ..
LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY QUESTION
Question No. 324
Australian Public Service - Job Losses
Following the 1996/97 Federal budget and its impact on the ACT in each of the next 2 years:
a) What is your assessment of the number of public service jobs to be lost?
b) How does this compare with the Prime Minister's promise that no more than 2500 jobs would be lost nationwide?
c) How many of these jobs are likely to be retained in the private sector in the ACT?
d) What is the economic loss to the ACT from the lost salaries?
e) What will be the impact on the ACT's GDP?
MRS CARNELL - The answer to the Member's question is as follows:
a) The issue of employment in the Australian Public Service is a matter for the Commonwealth Government.
A reduction of about 3 500 jobs from the APS in Canberra in 1996-97 has been included in the preparation of the 1996-97 ACT Budget and appears consistent with the Commonwealth Budget estimates. A further reduction of 3 500 jobs in the ACT is estimated for 1997-98.
b) See (a) above.
c) The Federal Government's restructure of public service activities will include a shift of functions to the private sector. There will be substantial opportunities for private sector firms in Canberra to bid for work which was previously undertaken by the public sector. Consequently, it is expected that the already large shift in jobs to the private sector over the past decade will continue as the private sector in Canberra becomes increasingly important in the labour market.
d) The loss of salaries from the public sector in the short term is expected to be compensated by a complementary gain in private sector employment over the medium term.
e) Gross State Product (GSP) is the principal measure of aggregate economic performance at the State and Territory level. GSP estimates the total value of goods and services produced in the economy.
A growth rate in the ACT of 1.2 per cent (real terms) during 1996-97, and 1.0 per cent in 1997-98 is forecast.
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