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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 13 Hansard (2 December) . . Page.. 4298 ..

MR WHITECROSS (continuing):

in the dying days of this Government that they have actually initiated a review of superannuation arrangements, a review which, coincidentally, is due to report at the end of March 1998, after the election. The community would have a right to think that an issue which the Government have made so much of, and which has been of concern to members in this place over the last three years, would have been addressed by the Government before the election, not after the election.

It is also interesting to note the recent actuarial estimates that are included in paragraph 3.9 of the Government's response. It states:

Recent actuarial estimates show that, for the ACTPS, current unfunded liabilities of around $700m are projected to increase to approximately $1,600m by the year 2013 had the PSS remained the principal scheme ... The annual costs will increase from the 1997-98 level of $16m to over $120m by the year 2027 (in 1997 dollar values).

It is interesting to note that statement in the Government's response, because they have not told us the impact on those projections of closing the scheme. The impact of closing the scheme is virtually none. The evidence produced for the Estimates Committee and for the Public Accounts Committee in relation to this matter is that it does not have a significant effect until after the year 2027 and that the Commonwealth superannuation scheme, which is already closed, contributes the lion's share to the escalating costs between now and the year 2027; so that the impact of closing the PSS is actually marginal. But, of course, it does not suit Mrs Carnell to acknowledge that this cut in benefits to public servants will have no significant effect over the next 30 years on the escalating costs of superannuation to the ACT community, although it will have some impact on the accruals for new entrants only.

The only other matter that I wanted to particularly comment on was paragraph 2.5 of the Government's response, which dealt with the question of the overall Territory operating loss. In recent days Mrs Carnell showed a great deal of enthusiasm for the Territory operating loss in 1996-97 and even made the claim, which I note is not repeated here, that the Territory operating loss is going to be only $100m for 1996-97. Unfortunately, Mrs Carnell has not chosen to record in this document the fact that her 1997-98 budget papers, which she quotes in relation to the 1996-97 outcome, project that for 1997-98 the operating loss will be $236m, a considerable increase on the amount that she has been claiming for 1996-97, which suggests that, far from the problem getting better, as Mrs Carnell has claimed, the problem is, in fact, getting worse. It is disappointing that, in defending the Government's record in relation to this matter, Mrs Carnell has not acknowledged that the problem, according to her own figures, is getting worse.

Mrs Carnell: How can you be sitting on a pile of money and have an operating loss at the same time?

MR WHITECROSS: Your budget papers indicate that the operating loss is $236m, Mrs Carnell; and it is disappointing that you are trying to convince the Canberra community that you have solved the problem when, in fact, the problem is not solved at all.

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