Page 3045 - Week 07 - Thursday, 30 June 2011
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In relation to the government’s elaboration of their responses to these recommendations, we commend the government on considering sustainability to be an important factor in responsible fiscal expenditure. We also commend the government on thinking that whole of government contracts will lead to better sustainability outcomes in that sustainability impacts will be better identified and measured and that that will lead to changed purchasing behaviour.
However, returning to the point I have already made, I wish to stress that considering whole-of-life costs does not automatically equate to achieving sustainability. I would also like to see more detail about how the government envisages a whole-of-government approach will lead to better sustainability accounting and ultimately changing purchasing behaviour.
I will make a few additional comments on some of the recommendations that were agreed to in principle. Recommendation 20 was that the Government Procurement Act 2001 be amended to include a statement that purchasing decisions must have regard for potential social benefits. I do commend the government for agreeing to this principle but I would like to see a bit more commitment to translating this into action. As noted yesterday, the government already has this commitment but it has not been translated into significant action, although hopefully, as a result of Ms Hunter’s motion yesterday, it will be.
I would also like to comment on recommendation 14, which was simply “noted”, which was about the ongoing issues with waste, and a potential Auditor-General’s inquiry into this. It has been a very sad and murky process. With the Chief Minister’s annual report directions, I am glad that the government is at least noting that they should be amended to specify reporting on compliance with sustainable procurement requirements. I am glad that the government will consider the feasibility of developing sustainable procurement monitoring and reporting systems in the context of budget considerations.
As I said, given the Chief Minister’s announcement this morning of a triple bottom line framework, I hope that this is a sign that these are progressing. It is a pity they have not happened yet. That is all I have to say at this stage about Shared Services.
MS GALLAGHER (Molonglo—Chief Minister, Minister for Health, Minister for Industrial Relations and Treasurer) (5.17): The restructure of the one public service has resulted in some changes to names. We now have Shared Services ICT, Shared Services Procurement, Shared Services Human Resources and Shared Services Finances. I am sure people will work out easy ways to say the names of all of those four particular business units in time.
The creation of Shared Services, the government believes, has provided many benefits to the ACT government—to its agencies, directorates and staff. These benefits can be summarised as financial savings in excess of $20 million which have already been returned to the budget plus ongoing savings through the contributions from the efficiency dividend. There have been changes to systems and process reforms; improved and consistent reporting across government in HR recruitment and finance;
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