Page 2613 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 5 June 2012
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Regulatory revenue has also softened.
Superannuation liabilities have increased as more PSS and CSS members are taking pensions rather than lump-sum payments due to the volatility of the financial markets, and members are also living longer.
To assist with its own budget the Commonwealth has reduced its revenue to us in 2012-13 by $48 million, bringing this payment to us forward to 2011-12.
We have also added new expenditure to provide essential services to the community. Savings have also been made in the 2012-13 Budget which partially offset our new spending in the first year, and fully offset new initiatives over the four years of the budget.
Savings
In this Budget we have continued to drive improvement in public service delivery.
We are making responsible savings in travel, printing, consultancies and advertising. We expect our public service to embrace technological advances and perform their valuable roles more efficiently over time.
Progressive reform of the ACT Public Service will help it play its part in enabling our community and economy to grow.
Building on the work of the Hawke review, our next step is to position the public service to achieve even greater value for money, provide even higher quality services, be innovative and manage change effectively.
In order to achieve this, we will establish an advisory group from industry, community and government to assist Cabinet decision making on public sector reform.
Reform of the ACT’s taxation system
Let me now turn to initiatives in this Budget beginning with our reforms to the ACT’s taxation system.
The need for reform of state and territory taxes has been accepted for some time. Tax bases around Australia—including in the ACT—are unsustainable.
The cost of some essential services, notably health care, is rising faster than the rate of economic growth and the GST base is eroding.
Land sales are a finite resource.
Further, our taxes are inequitable, volatile and inefficient.
The five-year plan I outline today makes the ACT’s taxation system fairer, simpler and more efficient.
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