Page 2057 - Week 06 - Thursday, 7 May 2009
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with the document. I draw members’ attention, most importantly, to a fact sheet that was published at the time of the 2006-07 budget. The first fact sheet was in relation to the functional review. So, in addition, as Mr Rattenbury has rightly said, to extensive briefings to selected non-executive members of the government and selected senior members of the public service, there was an extensive briefing to businesspeople and there was a written fact sheet, the content of which could be construed as effectively waiving the government’s privilege.
The content is substantial; I will read from it and then, for the interest of members, I will table it, because I have only one copy. Under the heading “What is the Functional Review?” the fact sheet states:
The Chief Minister—
not the cabinet; it does not say this—
commissioned the … Functional Review of ACT Public Sector and Services (the Functional Review) to review the outlook for the ACT Budget, to benchmark government expenditure against other jurisdictions and to identify options to improve efficiency through more effective government structures ...
The Stanhope Government is the first since self-government to undertake a comprehensive analysis of government services and structures.
That is, in fact, not true. It continues:
The Government’s key aims in commissioning the Review were to maintain community outcomes in priority areas such as health, education, law and order and emergency services and to place the ACT budget on a secure footing for future generations.
You will note, Madam Deputy Speaker, that in the description of what the functional review is at no time does it say that this was a document commissioned by the cabinet for the use of the cabinet exclusively. In fact, if you go through this—if anyone can point it out to me; I have read it on a number of occasions—I do not think there is a reference anywhere in the 2½ pages of the fact sheet on the functional review to the cabinet or privilege. In fact, under the heading “What did the Functional Review find?” there are nine paragraphs that tell us things about what is in the functional review. It mentions things like this:
The historic growth in health expenditure is also unsustainable, at an average rate of 11.2 per cent over the past four years.
It goes on and on and reveals a whole range of things that were addressed by the functional review. The mere publication of this fact sheet can be construed, and has been construed by my legal advisers, as the government waiving its privilege. The government waived its privilege a long time ago, and the privilege that it really wants to preserve relates to the things that Mr Rattenbury touched on. The functional review has been used as an excuse for a whole range of things, but the government is not prepared to come clean and show us what the functional review actually provided.
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