Page 3375 - Week 11 - Tuesday, 21 October 2014
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officers. There was only a one per cent increase in the number of teachers. However, last year there was a massive eight per cent increase in the number of executives. Their salaries averaged $187,500 per annum. The ACT executive workforce has increased by 20 per cent in the past five years while the public service has only increased by 15 per cent. Chief Minister, why have the number of ACT executives increased by 20 per cent over the last five years?
MS GALLAGHER: I thank Mr Smyth for the question. The ACT government service has grown. It has grown modestly with the implementation of the government’s key priority areas of focus. I think the vast majority of additional staff has been in the area of education and in health, where we have consciously taken decisions to grow that side of the workforce.
In relation to the executive level, they are a much smaller component of the overall workforce of the ACT government. The vast majority of ACT public servants are not executives. So where there are increases in executive employment I think you see a larger percentage growth but the numbers are actually much more reasonable. Again, governments do need senior staff to implement government programs. I think there is nothing unreasonable about ensuring that you get high-quality, well-remunerated people across the board in the ACT public service. But this is something that the budget cabinet watches closely. Where there are extra staff being added, that is part of our consideration in supporting particular areas of growth and priority.
I am satisfied that every staff member that has got a job in the ACT public service is in a job that is needed to be performed. There will be other areas of business where we see changes and fluctuations in staff numbers. That is entirely reasonable. In terms of ambulance staff, there have been very big increases in ambulance officers in the years preceding this report.
MADAM SPEAKER: A supplementary question, Mr Smyth.
MR SMYTH: Minister, has the government got its priorities wrong when it disproportionately increases the number of high-paid executive jobs at the expense of front-line staff?
MS GALLAGHER: I note again that you have not cited the growth in health staff as part of the areas that you have nominated in your question, and certainly the area of largest growth has been in nursing and midwifery professional officers who are also quite often front-line service deliverers and health assistants. But I am also not going to demonise people who do very important work for the ACT public service and who may not be considered front-line workers. Again, this is something we watch closely. But there are a range of duties to be performed across the ACT government. Whether it be front line, back line, middle line, there are reasons for people’s employment and for different classifications of employment.
Again, it is a cheap shot. It is the way to get a quick headline but the reality is that we are very professionally served by a dedicated workforce, a very dedicated workforce, and again the standard of care, the access to services that the ACT community have is something that comes up time and again with me as a member of this place and is
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