Page 2365 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 29 August 2007
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servants affected or a ballpark figure of the amount of money that has been over- or underpaid. (Second speaking period taken.)
The government have now been aware of this problem for over a year and it is difficult to see why they are unable even to explain the scope of the problem, let alone fix it. This now falls on the Shared Services Centre, which has shown little public evidence of progress.
I should also comment on the shared services centres in other states. I have flagged concerns already, and I would like to reiterate them today. There are worrying signs, particularly in light of the problems with the shared services centres in South Australia and Western Australia. In South Australia, the Auditor-General found that the shared services centre is behind schedule and over budget and there have been serious cost blow-outs. In Western Australia, the problems are the same. There have been problems with the implementation of shared services and the project is over budget.
The government have relied on what they say are important differences between the territory and these states which they believe will ensure that those things do not happen in the ACT. I hope that my apprehension is not well based. Mr Vanderheide and Mr Robertson, who are key players in this arrangement, are very able people. I hope that, for the sake of the taxpayer, they are successful.
We are told that because we are a small territory, with our Shared Services Centre up and running we will avoid the problems experienced by other jurisdictions. But it remains to be seen whether the centre will result in genuine efficiency savings or whether the government will rely on falling standards of service and cutting corners to record its pro rata savings. There are some early signs of that, over which we will maintain a close watch.
The dissenting report of the estimates committee recommended that the government reported to the Assembly on these matters and identify savings that are due to consolidation and economies of scale separately from savings due to other policies. I certainly welcome this recommendation and hope that the government will adopt it.
There is some worrying information that has emerged from this budget process about the Shared Services Centre. The government is determined to convince the public that it has saved vast amounts of money due to consolidation, economies of scale and efficiency gains. It has given a number of statements which, on the surface, give that impression. But if we scratch below the surface, it may be that the savings reported are not genuine savings but projected savings. The budget papers do not give us a clear picture on this, and the Treasurer is fairly relaxed—indeed, one might say blase—about the difference.
What is more, some of the actual savings have nothing to do with consolidation into the Shared Services Centre. How much, we are not sure, because it is not adequately reported. We also see that the government is reducing its levels of service and its targets for future levels of service. They are setting targets that are below current performance, presumably in an effort to impress the public by being on target next time.
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